No-one ever thought MySpace, FriendFeed, Orkut, Google+, etc would ever be usurped, as they were amongst the biggest social networks around. But everything changes over time, and that includes all social networks as well as their users.
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr all rose up and fairly quickly replaced these networks. In turn, these networks themselves have started to age — they are too big to quickly innovate and change, they have closed down their once open access (this is key to trapping users with their connections), they have pushed adverts and sold user data in order to squeeze out more money to support the costs of bloated staff levels and massive centralised hosting, and they attempt to copy newer innovative networks or buy them out.
There are many newer networks around that are challenging the older paradigms. Mostly they are offering:
* More flexible rules (different ones depending on which server you join)
* Are more decentralised
* Connected to different networks using open standard protocols
* Do not serve paid adverts
* Do not sell users’ metadata
* And just giving users a better experience through cleaner and more relevant feeds.
Yet so many users still remain trapped on the older platforms, and chiefly because they are stuck in a bubble with their existing followers and especially friends/family. So far we’ve mainly seen the really irritated users, those who seek out new things to try, and those who feel freer to move out on their own and make new connections, moving across to new networks. It does though look like in 2024 there is a bigger ground swell than ever before, of users seeking out change. After all if networks are not going tom improve for the better, the most effective thing for an end user is to make that change themselves.
Mastodon and Bluesky are two of these newer networks which each have well over 10 million users already, with Mastodon also seamlessly connecting into the greater Fediverse of networks, all using the ActivityPub international open standard protocol. Bluesky’s protocol is likewise an open and decentralised one, but right now there still is only the once large central instance of Bluesky to register at.
Although Bluesky and Mastodon both fulfil a microblogging type alternative to Twitter, and look fairly similar, it is Bluesky which has grown quickest most recently. Is this because Jack Dorsey founded it (Jack moved on to Nostr already), or is it because it looks more directly like X (feels familiar), or is it because there is only one go-to server to sign up on (no choice yet so easier onboarding)? It’s probably a combination of all of these.
I’ve been testing alternative social networks out for well over two decades (I still have an IRC account) and two common things I see from many new users are: This is so much nicer than the older network XYZ I came from (gone are the days of referring to an ad hoc network as X), and how do I now get my friends and family here.
The first statement is the easy one, as usually the newer network is fresh and full of exploratory or tech type people, and usually the big brands have not yet arrived either (which is a problem for those who like to be able to have direct contact with the social media teams for Big Brands, as this is far easier than getting stuck at a Call Centre sometimes). The second statement is the real clincher though, as there is no easy answer to getting people to “move”, when doing so means they lose all their previous connections.
All I can say is, it will be different with these newer gen networks (and I include Friendica, Hubzilla, Pixelfed, Loops, Lemmy, and the many more) as they have been designed to be open and interconnected (your friends do not have to move anywhere to keep following you), and you are in control of what is seen in your feed (big brands can be there, but you have to choose to follow them before you see them). So, you can expect the experience to continue to be a good one.
Out of all the Big Tech networks, it is only Threads that seems to understand the new dynamics at work. Threads is not Instagram (owned by Meta), but is integrated with Instagram, as well as having an ActivityPub connection with the Fediverse. Meta is banking on many of its users rather using Threads, and being able to interact with the rest of the Fediverse, instead of jumping ship altogether and just going into the Fediverse. It’s a good move, and probably makes sense for them, as they are offering their users what they see to be the best of both worlds. It shows they recognise what is happening, and are trying to adapt and hedge their bets. The problem is that whilst you operate a Threads account (I am assuming this, based on the WhatsApp, Facebook terms of service) your metadata about everything you do and where you go, is still being passed back up to advertisers and others.
One could say that TikTok is surely one of the newer networks as it has severely disrupted Facebook, X and others? However, I say no, as the disruption really needs to be based on a radical paradigm shift. TikTok is still centralised, it pumps out adverts into feeds, and it is managed just like the older legacy social networks. Only its content medium and algorithms are a bit of a shift. A real alternative to TikTok could possibly be the very newly launched Loops network (similar content medium, decentralised, no paid adverts in feeds, federates with Fediverse).
Most users are certainly going to find all their interests, as well as some old friends, on these various new networks. All I can advise is:
* Make new friends and contacts around your existing interests and hobbies — you’ll be surprised how many great people out there are also interested in what you are interested in
* Don’t close your old account immediately if you have many friends and family there — just don’t post new content there.
* Leave a last post saying where you have moved to and that you will still respond, but don’t go overboard trying to persuade others to move as it rarely works, and in fact increases their resistance to moving.
* Try to pick one network, and get to know it well (very few of us have the energy to maintain an active presence across 10+ networks).
* Don’t be afraid to block or mute people whose posts you don’t want to see in your feed (you control what you want to see, or not see, and there is no guilt about this).
* Report content that you think contravenes the written instance rules (and do check the rules before you join so that you are comfortable with them, you do have other options often, so rules are not forced down on you).
* If you are a business, remember that your money gets you nowhere on new networks — you’ll need to adapt your approach to providing better information and content, as well as engagement, so that users choose to follow you.
* Don’t over think your choices — anywhere new is probably better, and with the Fediverse you are still connected to everywhere so which instance you join is not a major choice to make (most networks are fully open to viewing the public feeds without even registering, so have a look see first).
* Don’t insult or berate those you have left behind on legacy networks — they’ll be ready to move when they are. There is nothing to prove with you moving yourself now (after all you were also not first on the new networks).
If you want to get some feel for what the newer social networks look like, you can look through my playlist at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk-uujZQZFE&list=PLdSTEdM8Pkf0LQS0RF_QsSPw9MoDr8hbD where I have done over 20 videos featuring some of these networks. Many of them I featured a few years ago already so they have changed a bit, but their philosophies are still very much the same. It looks like I had not featured Bluesky yet (although I’ve done blog posts about it).
For those asking about Facebook replacements, this is not easy as the closest to Facebook are really Hubzilla and Friendica, but their interfaces will appear a bit dated to many. Don’t underestimate these networks though, as Hubzilla has something that no other network has after all this time (the ability to fully and easily migrate all content with followers etc to a different instance, or to mirror that in real-time).
Something else I did not mention above is legality or patriotism. Decentralised networks also mean that servers are in different jurisdictions around the world. So the rules can be different (offering more freedoms to those in oppressed or censorship friendly countries), the legal rules enforcing them are different (some need to be GDPR-compliant whilst others fall within NSA-type jurisdictions), and of course some instances are promoted as a country instance e.g. say in France or South Africa, where you will find many of your fellow citizens online. These are not important criteria for many to worry much about, but if you are, then this is worth mentioning.
A last piece of advice is that with decentralised social networks, everyone is anywhere, so hashtags are often your friend in finding similar interests. Don’t go overboard with them but where it is relevant, tag your hobby being mention, or your city, or whatever, as many networks allow users to subscribe to following hashtags.
Hashtags are the great uniter across a diversified universe of social networks (second only to a common protocol of course).
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