So, Elon Musk has bought Twitter and not everyone is happy about it.  During his first days in-charge he made half the workforce redundant and brought in some rules which some consider “not fair”.  If you are thinking of leaving Twitter then what are the alternatives?

Mastodon

This is the one that everyone seems to be talking about, Mastodon, is free open-source software and is a relatively new social media platform that was released in 2016.  Similar to Twitter, you can micro-blog but with 500 text-based characters over Twitter’s 280-character limit.  You will be able to create a profile, follow accounts and have followers, write “toots” (instead of tweets) etc but these are spread throughout Mastodon.  Oh, and you need to select a server / community to join.  It’s worth keeping an eye on!

Cohost

This social media platform is even newer than Mastodon, so new in fact that it is in Beta version.  Cohost’s strapline is: posting, but better.  Unlike many of the top social media platforms, this one has done away with algorithm so your posts stay in the order you post them.  They are focused on posts rather than advertising.  Lots of exciting things to come as they develop this site including ways of finding new things, on-site tip jar and getting users’ input.

CounterSocial

CounterSocial looks like the Twitter of the future with lots of mention of Virtual Reality.  This “Next-Gen” Social Media site states that it has no trolls, no ads, no fake news and no foreign influence ops.  It’s like a virtual dashboard where you can pin columns that are relevant to you, create your own “watch-lists” of users or topics.  In terms of “something different”, they have a Virtual Reality section called CounterSocial Realms where you can create or use public or private rooms / spaces to meet up for a VR-film night or a poker night.

Red Desk thoughts

Although nothing is going to be exactly the same as Twitter, it is worth keeping an eye on where your target audience might be headed.  Mastodon currently sounds quite complicated.  Cohost sounds interesting but we might wait until they are more established.  CounterSocial appears to be the easiest site in terms of usability and we’re keeping an eye on the VR section as that may be the way ahead in terms of social media content.

Red Desk provides social media management to small businesses.  If you would like a social media review then please get in touch with mel@reddesk.co.uk