Twitter may still be the world’s largest micro-blogging platform, but it’s no longer the only game in town. We’ve tested out dozens of social media networks to bring you the best Twitter alternatives available on the internet.
Most Similar to Twitter: Plurk
Plurk brands itself as a “social network for weirdos,” but you’ll find people discussing a broad range of mundane topics from knitting to Netflix. The company is in Taiwan, so much of the discussions center around Asian pop culture.
Adorable interface.
360-character limit on posts.
Massive global user base.
Responsive user support team.
No way to filter posts by language.
Perhaps too similar to Twitter for some people’s tastes.
Plurk allows anonymous posts, so you can share your thoughts with the world without sharing anything else. A useful Time Machine feature lets you see all of the plurks from days past, making it easy to search for old posts.
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Make and Moderate Your Own Social Network: Mastodon
Mastodon is a bit different due to its decentralized nature. Rather than offering one giant social media platform, it allows users to create, host, and run communities or “instances.” Each instance has a different set of conduct policies determined by the hosts.
Thousands of communities focused on specific interests.
Create your own communities.
500-character limit on posts.
Complicated to set up.
All of the options can feel overwhelming at first.
Inconsistent community guidelines and policies.
It may seem like a lot to take in at first, but once you join some communities, you’ll find that it’s an excellent tool for making new, like-minded friends. Mastodon has apps for Android and iOS, so you have many options for customizing your experience.
A Safe Social Network for Teens: Amino
Amino is similar to Mastodon in that it enables users to make and moderate communities centered around specific topics. Most communities have stricter guidelines than Twitter, which is good because the user base tends to be on the younger side.
Safe social space for teens.
Stricly enforced community guidelines.
Chat with other users and watch videos together.
Busy app interface.
One-on-one conversations are not moderated.
Community topics are largely limited to niche interests.
Community moderators can create polls, quizzes, and other neat interactive content. Amino also facilitates voice chat and “screening rooms” where you can watch videos with other users. The platform prioritizes anonymity, and you can use different handles in different communities.
Democratically Controlled Social Networks: Aether
If you go to Twitter to find people with common interests, Aether is another excellent alternative. Aether heavily moderates posts, but individual communities have moderators who are held accountable by all members of the group. Users can make multiple anonymous accounts and post in any community.
Posts disappear forever after a specified amount of time.
Communities are democratically controlled.
Download required.
Still in early beta.
No mobile app.
Mac only at the moment.
One significant benefit of Aether is that the comments you make don’t last forever. Someone can always screenshot anything you post, but all content eventually disappears into the aether. The downside is that there isn’t a mobile app; you can only use the Aether if you download the desktop app.
Best Premium Micro-Blogging Platform: Micro.blog
If you’re looking for a more robust micro-blogging platform, and you don’t mind paying a little each month, Micro.blog might be the perfect home for you. Rather than a replacement for Twitter, Micro.blog is another tool for those who wish to extend their social media reach.
No ads or sponsored content.
Curated content suggestions (no algorithms).
Migrate existing blogs for free.
Must pay to unlock all features.
No officially supported Android app.
More geared toward professional bloggers.
Micro.blog supports cross-posting to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Mastodon, and more. If you have a WordPress blog, you can directly import and export content between the platforms. While there’s no official Micro.blog app for Android, a few third-party apps connect to the network. There are several clients to use Micro.blog (although you can also use the web interface). Here we recommend the official Micro.blog app for iOS and Dialog for Android.
Get Lost in Blogs: Tumblr
Tumblr is one of the oldest social-media sites around. It launched in 2007, and while it’s maybe not as popular as it used to be, it’s still going strong. If you see a meme on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, it was probably on Tumblr a month ago.
Well established, so plenty of people to connect to.
Clean interface and easy to use.
Easy to browse and find new pages and posts on a variety of topics.
Reliance on hashtags can be hard to grasp.
Reblog and comment system can be difficult to follow.
Some concerns about content theft.
The platform boasts a huge community that shares photos, art, writing, and jokes. If you’re used to how Twitter works, it’s similar enough to pick up. The differences, including an even higher emphasis on hashtags for discoverability, can take a little getting used to, but Tumblr has plenty to find and see.
Best Blogging Network of the Future: Post
As of this writing, Post is a brand-new platform. It’s so new, in fact, that you can’t just sign up; you have to add your name to a waitlist to get into the early-access version of the site.
No character limit for posts.
Promises extensive moderation to restrict hate speech.
Currently waitlist-only.
Not many users.
No mobile app.
Still, Post seems to have plenty going for it. You can create posts of any length, without Twitter’s character limit. The platform also aims to create a “civil place to debate ideas” through moderation to curb extremism and hatred. It’s too early to know whether the latter will succeed, but the sentiment is there. Post offers micropayments so users can collect tips and donations, and an integrated reader for outside articles.
Best Up-and-Coming Social Network: Hive Social
Another relative newcomer, Hive Social sports a familiar, Twitter-like interface and a feed that is always chronological, so you don’t miss posts from people you follow because of an algorithm.
Chronological feed.
Ability to add music to your page, MySpace-style.
Familiar interface.
Privacy concerns.
Usernames aren’t unique.
App can run slowly.
Hive has a small development team and has already seen some hiccups. Its app has suffered from an influx of new users and has run a little slowly, with items taking a while to load. In December 2022, the company shut the servers down to fix an issue that let hackers edit other people’s posts. Another major concern is that usernames are currently not unique to each user, which may lead to impersonation or misinformation.
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