Best Twitter alternatives: Bluesky, Threads & more
SXSW/Pexels/TwitterWith numerous issues surrounding Twitter, are there any decent alternatives? We dive into the slew of apps that have begun to crop up like Bluesky, Threads & more.
As Elon Musk’s Twitter appears to be having numerous issues over recent weeks, a lot of users are now seeking alternatives. A wealth of them began to spring up last year and earlier in 2023, but which is the best for you?
It mostly depends on what you want out of the service itself. Some people have started to migrate towards Bluesky due to the nearly identical experience. However, some are trying different spins on the formula with Cohost or Mastodon.
Of course, Meta is also prepping to launch its own competitor, Threads, which is expected to launch on July 6.
Bluesky
Bluesky comes from Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter. It’s a “decentralized” social network, but is much easier to use and connect than Mastodon’s many servers. When you sign up, your username will be connected to the central hub, and if you own a domain, you can change it to link in with that too.
The user experience parallels Twitter, with similar iconography and features. However, for those hoping for a more private account, there’s currently no way to lock it from public view.
Is Bluesky invite only?
Currently, Bluesky is in early beta, and you’ll need an invite after signing up. You can also use an invite from another user. These invites generate every two weeks for each user and stack up if not shared.
After Twitter effectively DDOS’d itself due to a few blunders behind the scenes, it had to cut off sign-ups and invites temporarily.
Bluesky is slim on features right now, with no video support to speak of. It also has a fairly small community, with a lot of the stuff to read coming from its “What’s Hot” and “Popular with Friends” tabs. However, Bluesky currently has the “Popular with Friends” tab disabled right now.
Threads
Threads is Meta’s new Instagram-connected Twitter competitor. It appears to be taking the whole tree, rather than a leaf from Twitter’s book. Meta plans to launch it on July 6, and it’ll be integrated directly with your Instagram account.
This means there’s no need to go hunting down your mutuals or friends like on BlueSky, as everyone will automatically be connected.
Although, Twitter founder and Twitter’s current CEO appear to raising concerns over the data required by Meta to use Threads – data already asked for by Instagram. Most of what is being asked for is also requested by Twitter too.
Mastodon
Mastodon is a Twitter-esque social app, that allows you to join a particular server and interact with other users on the platform. It differs from Twitter in that it requires you to choose a server to start from.
Unlike with Discord or Slack, you’re not limited to that one server. It’s essentially your online house, with the ability to cross the street to see everything just a few clicks away. The major problem at the moment is finding a particular server that’s relatively populated for those without immediate connections from Twitter.
While you can see everything, there’s a definite issue with regard to onboarding. Usernames aren’t just ‘yourusername’, but ‘yourusername@theserver.theendofaurl’. Searching for someone outside of your server requires you to know what server they’re on and what their username is. Without this information, you could wind up following someone else.
However, the web interface is fairly familiar to those already used to Twitter. For those of us who enjoy Tweetdeck’s more in-depth view, there’s an advanced viewing option hidden in the settings.
Mastodon also comes with some great features, like an increased limit to 500 characters and content warning tags. It is quite cringeworthy that they’re called ‘toots’, with the creator of Mastodon, Eugen Rochko revealing that it was the fault of YouTuber Hbomberguy.
How to join Mastodon:
To join Mastodon, you’ll need to sign up and choose a server. Once you’ve decided where you’re going to be posting from, you can then start to follow pretty much anyone.
It’s very easy to get accustomed to its eccentricities. However, some servers are currently taking manual applications, which means you’ll need to wait.
You can find ones that are specifically designed for a niche, or even ones for your local area. You can move your account over to another server, and even see others via the ‘Federation’ tab.
Cohost
Cohost aims to be a bit simpler than Mastodon but provides a more robust posting ability. It appears to be building something that doesn’t use advertising, or algorithms to coerce you into seeing things.
The interface is still a little rocky, reminding us of the early days of Twitter, but overall is easy to navigate. It supports markdown, letting you customize your posts to your liking. Alongside this, it lets you indicate whether or not it is an adult post.
A major problem with Cohost is that there’s no proper search function. The dedication to a lack of algorithm means that it doesn’t feature a trending area. You can search for hashtags to follow, but it won’t surface things to you unless you actively search, or follow people.
If you’re after a one-to-one experience that Twitter brought, this might be the closest you can get in the meantime.
It also will not let you post straight away. In a bid to kill an influx of bots and malicious users, Cohost has a waiting list before you can post. This might seem counterintuitive, but the time between getting access to the site and the option to post is getting shorter. Also, it means they can easily vet bad actors before they infiltrate the website. That, and save their servers from burning up.
Cohost does allow you to pay a fee to get ‘Cohost Plus‘, which still seems a little thin on offerings outside of helping out the development team keep the lights on.
Twitter failed alternatives: Ello and Pillowfort
We’ve been keeping tabs on them for years now, with very few actually managing to maintain the momentum needed. Ello, a first real attempt, is now more of a Pinterest clone. Pillowfort, which properly came to light in 2021, was kicked to the curb after it was revealed it wasn’t built right.