There has been so much criticism of Facebook that the Wikipedia article on it alone could just about be made into a small book. For those looking for a good alternative of Facebook, this is a collection of comments submitted to us (you can make a contribution here if you have something to recommend) on the different Facebook alternatives that people have tried and recommend. For each comment, I’ve bolded the social network recommended and linked to it, as well as included my own comments on what I think of it from a cursory glance (note I haven’t used most of the sites people have recommended, just did a quick look into them).
|
inLinx (inLinx.com) I use inLinx.com as they take my privacy seriously! Now I don’t have to worry when applying for a job because they don’t store my data for people to find in major search engines. I can have my friends and family there and have them separate like in real life! There is this ‘treat as’ function I can control when people add me, treat as a family they only see family post. Treat as Linx and they will see both my family and Linx posts. EDITORS NOTE: This has been around since at least 2018 and is still very tiny. According to many reviews of the Android app, there are a number of bugs, it can be slow and many of the users are 'creepy'. However, many of its users still like it. --Kenny Trinh, Netbooknews PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/facebook-alternatives#kenny |
|
MeWe (MeWe.com) Like many others, Facebook’s shady privacy policies and political scandals have made me want to quit the platform for some time now. However, I still wanted a way to get news and connect with people in my social circle. So, a group of us medical students tested out a few alternative social media platforms until we found MeWe. I’ve been using it for a few months. I’m glad to say that it has no ads, no newsfeed tinkering, and no tracking or selling my data. With MeWe, I can still have the things/features I’ve grown accustomed to—private and public groups, newsfeeds, pages to follow, and chat features. It is currently available across the globe in 19 languages. The site makes money by selling premium emojis, additional storage above 8GB, and business-focused services. EDITORS NOTE: A pretty popular site with great reviews for the app and no ads. Not quite as advanced as Facebook, of course. You also have to pay for a lot of features. Prices for in-app products are "$1.29 - $549.99 per item" --Aaron Simmons, Test Prep Genie PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/facebook-alternatives#aaron |
|
Alignable (alignable.com) An alternative social media site I use that is more business-focused is called Alignable. This website is very useful for connecting to local businesses and referring businesses to other people. What I like the most about it is it has a My Community section which shows all of the local companies within my city. This allows me to shop local and refer people to local businesses easier that I didn't know existed in my community. There are so many 1-5 people businesses that may work from home, don't have a physical location, or don't show up in search functions on Google or Facebook. Alignable has a local directory where you can see everyone, not just who the algorithm populates into your feed. You can filter the results by industry, name, and more as well, but in general, it feels a lot more local than the bigger mainstream social media websites. EDITORS NOTE: I'd heard of this before as I've got several automated emails from people apparently trying to connect via Alignable. As it turns out, many people have been annoyed by Alignable emails (see the trustpilot reviews here). I doubt it's a real replacement for Facebook. --Alex Furfaro, alexfurfaro.com PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/facebook-alternatives#alex |
|
Ello (ello.co) Justifying its ‘Facebook killer social network’ tag, Ello is a perfect platform for people who don’t like pushing ads down their throats. It is securer than Facebook and does not sell its users’ information. I recently switched to Ello and felt safe to use it. About Ello, I liked: Design, which is simple and minimalist Ad-free environment Invite-only platform EDITORS NOTE: This has a decent userbase (over 1 million) and has been around for a while, and has some decent reviews. Many people are frustrated with how slow it is though and how it makes you follow people and sends you emails about what people you're following are up to (even if you don't follow anyone). --Rahul Vij, WebSpero Solutions PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/facebook-alternatives#rahul |
|
Foxsake (foxsake.com) One social media website that takes the best of Facebook (and others) while eliminating some of their drawbacks, is Foxsake. In addition to the table stakes social features for a Facebook alternative, Foxsake adds RSS reading, a public stream (like Twitter) and greater control over your timeline. When I was looking for an alternative to Facebook, I liked that Foxsake was incredibly easy to set up and use. As someone who was concerned about Facebook privacy issues, it was equally important to me what Foxsake doesn't do. They promise to never share user data, will never allow political ads and will never use facial recognition or biometric data to identify or track users. EDITORS NOTE: This appears completely obscure and I can't find any information on it. --Len Rubel, LenRubel.com PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/facebook-alternatives#len |
|
Line (line.me) The Line app has more than double the amount of active users that Facebook has across much of SouthEast Asia. In Japan, Line users outnumber Facebook by close to 3 to 1. More people in the country have Line accounts than have cell phones. As someone that is a Japan fan, I use Line a lot to communicate with my Japanese friends and I like it’s interface more than Facebook. It has a timeline, and its own ecosystem of services, such as Line Pay, Line Points and Line Taxi (which competes with Uber in Asia). But it’s the messaging functionality that is it’s core selling point. Messaging on Line is just a lot more fun. The use of “stickers”, like emoji on steroids, is part of the everyday language of Line. On most messaging service, your screen is covered in bland text bubbles, on Line, your dialogue is like a manga comic strip. My kids love to use the voice-call function called Face-Play, which basically turns a conference call into an arcade game. The camera detects your facial features, uses crazy effects to change what you look like, and tracks where your face is in space. This means that you can actually use your face as a game controller and compete with whoever you are having the “call” with. During these lock down times, our kids have often found it difficult to sustain conversations over screens with their friends. Line gamifies the whole experience so that they can still have the social interaction by just goofing around with faces. So I would recommend trying Line out. 126 million Japanese people can’t all be wrong for a start. EDITORS NOTE: A huge company that you may have heard of already. Line isn't a full replacement for Facebook though as it's catered for calls and messages, so it's more like WhatsApp or WeChat --Peter Head, Japanoscope.com PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/facebook-alternatives#peter |