Disclaimers and Notes:
Facebook censors content
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/03/most-popular-social-networks-mapped
There are relatively few social sites like Facebook that have come close to the sheer popularity of the social media giant, but that’s not for a lack of attempts. Here are the top 5 Facebook competitors.
And here are myriad other choices!
https://revolutionresource.org/2017/11/25/alternatives-to-facebook/
Facebook censors content. They admit it. But there are alternatives.
Use Facebook instead of letting them use you.
https://youtu.be/WFi3C_5U9_Y?list=RDWFi3C_5U9_Y
On stormy Mondays… Lots of options… Twitter: While smaller and more narrow in focus, Twitter has over 284 million active users and 500 million tweets a day. ( https://twitter.com ) https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/
1. Google Plus is history… Google gave up on Google Plus, but still provides free blogs and sites at Gmail. http://www.Gmail.com
but Google (via Gmail ) provides websites (sites) and blogs… FREE!/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21939811/newgmaillogo.jpg?resize=327%2C245&ssl=1)
Google allows you to create a profile for yourself as a GMail user, find friends, and organize them into groups or lists. Gmail allows you to see what your friends are up to and show appreciation for things.
Businesses can also connect with customers via custom pages, and users can start conversations, plan events, and more. And Gmail can also connect you to YouTube, Google Drive, Blogger and more!
2. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a site similar to Facebook that has a somewhat specific audience: businesses and business-people. Create a profile and list your business credentials, and you’ll have your very own virtual resume! Connect with people you know and endorse skills that you know them to be good at, and they might do the same for you!
Find companies that are looking to hire and apply online, or if you own a business yourself, post a job opening and see if anyone wants to fill it. Plus, read and discuss all the latest news about the working world.
If you’d like to learn more about LinkedIn, TechBoomers has a LinkedIn Course that you can have a look at.
3. Ello
Ello is a relatively new social network that is designed specifically to be an alternative to Facebook. One of the big things that the people who run Ello didn’t like about Facebook (or many other popular social media websites) is that it tracks your activity. What’s worse, Facebook then uses that information to plaster advertisements all over the place based on what it thinks you want to see. (We have a Tracking and Sale of Internet Usage Data article that explains in more detail how this is done by Facebook and many other websites.)
Ello promises to fix that by never showing you advertisements, never tracking or selling your usage information, and never requiring you to provide your real name. Ello provides many similar functions to Facebook and other social networks like Facebook, such as following or blocking other users, integrating pictures and videos into your posts, and sharing other people’s posts.
Ello is still a work in progress, but you might like its rather no-nonsense design.
4. Diaspora
(Like Ello, Diaspora was designed to be a true Facebook alternative. Its creators shared the same concerns about the structure of Facebook, where everyone’s activity could be tracked and used to sell advertising by a single large corporation. Diaspora works differently, by connecting a collection of miniature social networks known as “pods”. You can join an existing pod, or create one of your own — whether it’s just for your family, your neighborhood, your friends, or whoever.
Diaspora allows you to create groups or lists (called “aspects”) that allow you to control who sees what you post, and like Twitter, Diaspora allows you to link people or topics to what you post with “mentions” and “hashtags”. However, on Diaspora, you don’t have to use your real name if you don’t want to, and you retain all rights to any content that you post.
5. Tagged
Tagged is a bit different from other alternatives to Facebook in that it emphasizes discovering new friends, rather than simply connecting with ones you’ve already made. You can set up and customize a free profile with a bit about you and what your interests are, and then use many features that are similar to those on Facebook. You can post status updates, upload photos, send and receive private messages, and play games.
You can also see who has visited your profile, sort and rate videos, and send virtual “gifts” to people you like (these gifts can be bought with on-site “gold”, which can be purchased with real money or earned through various promotions and games). Tagged also features chat rooms that are categorized by age and mood, so you can join a real-time instant message conversation.
The one thing to note about Tagged is that it’s somewhat designed to be about social dating and relationships. However, the majority of its users are a little bit older than they are on other social media websites, usually between the ages of 35 and 50.
Fed Up with Facebook?
Here are some Alternatives
1. Sociall.io
Sociall is a blockchain-based social network that values your privacy by scrambling data and not selling it off to dubious third-party groups.
All data in Sociall is decentralised, so it’s much less likely that the information you enter into it will be tracked by web crawlers. Sociall is monetised by its own cryptocurrency called SCL, which you can use to buy various bonus features. It’s based on the well-known Ethereum blockchain, so you can be sure that nothing dodgy is going on.
Other than that, Sociall functions very much like Facebook, offering user-to-user messaging (with extras like sending voice recordings), public wall posts, and options to organise social events and gatherings.
2. Ello
If you work in any kind of creative field – illustration, graphic design, film, you-name-it – or just want to hang out and share content in a space designed around tasteful images and art, then you should try out Ello. It wasn’t always like this, with the social network that used to called itself a “Facebook Killer” reeling in its ambitions to something more focused and tenable.
It was a great call, as it turns out, as Ello has grown from a somewhat sparse social network into a buzzing online creative hub, image-led and filled with artists sharing their work free of selfies, political mudslinging, and family photos. Think of it as a high-brow twist on Instagram.
3. Minds
Minds does a little bit of everything, and its open-source, privacy-oriented, community-owned platform has actually attracted quite a few users. It has most of the standard Facebook features – profiles, timelines, media sharing, messaging, etc. But it also has hints of Reddit and Medium.com, with its content curation features and emphasis on original blogging content (which can be monetized using the site’s cryptocurrency tools).
Its open-source code, encrypted messages, and zero-censorship policy make it a great place for anyone with slightly above-average tech skills, though these features also make it attractive to extremist groups (alt-right, techno-anarchist, etc.) who have found themselves exiled from Facebook or Twitter.
4. MeWe
MeWe hasn’t gotten quite the coverage it deserves, especially given that Tim Berners-Lee, one of the primary architects of the World Wide Web, sits on its board of advisors. Its interface is simple and intuitive, it covers all the Facebook basics, and it is dedicated to maintaining user privacy. It has advertising, but it is not targeted. They compensate for lower ad revenue by selling add-on services, like voice messaging and message encryption. It’s quite user-friendly, and you may be able to connect your Facebook and Twitter to it, though if this feature currently exists, it’s somewhat well-hidden.
5. Vero
In March 2018 Vero jumped from 150,000 users to over 3,000,000 in the wake of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica data breach. The mobile-only platform is well-designed and has some great photo management tools, which may have led to the overall alternative/artistic vibe given off by the current user base. Their privacy policy is not as strong as some others, but they do give users plenty of control and eventually plan to charge a subscription fee in order to avoid advertising, though early adopters will get a free lifetime membership. The mobile-only platform and eventual need to pay for the service may turn some off, but Vero certainly shows some potential.
6. Diaspora
This is one of the oldest Facebook alternatives out there and also one of the most unique in terms of its setup. Rather than being owned by a single company, the open-source Diaspora software can be run by anyone who wants to set up a server. Users can choose which “pod” they want their account information to be stored on and set up an account there. Once their data is on that server, they can interact with any other user on the network, regardless of host location.
Diaspora has a pleasantly intuitive interface and supports cross-posting to other social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. Unfortunately, their decentralization means that app development has been slow, which is a downside for mobile users.
Friendly
Friendly is the only app in the list that lets you use both Facebook and Messenger from one place, so it deserves a special place in our list. As soon as you install the app and log in to your Facebook account, you’ll be taken straight to your News Feed. From there, you can either choose to use it as the Facebook app or tap on the Messenger icon to use Messenger and chat with your Facebook Friends.
When it comes to Messenger, you can do things like send and receive messages, share images, videos, emojis, stickers, and more. The only thing missing here is again the ability to make calls. So you’ll still have to use the Messenger Lite app for that. But apart from that Friendly is a really great alternative to the Messenger app.
In addition to Facebook, you can also use Friendly to manage other platforms like Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more. It’s a really handy feature, as Friendly can essentially act as a one-stop app for all your social media needs. The app is completely free to use and it works really well.
Download Friendly (Free)
Top 5 Facebook Messenger App Alternatives that Actually Work
Mirela Monte suggested a couple more…
Welcome! | VK
https://vk.com
VK is the largest European social network with more than 100 million active users. Our goal is to keep old friends, ex-classmates, neighbors and colleagues …
VK is a Russian online social media and social networking service based in Saint Petersburg. VK is available in multiple languages but it is predominantly used by Russian speakers. Wikipedia
Founded: October 10, 2006
Headquarters: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Founders: Pavel Durov, Yitzchak Mirilashvili, Mikhael Mirilashvili, Lev Binzumovich Leviev
Parent organization: VK holding
Subsidiaries: ICVA, Professional Contacts LLC
Telegram Messenger
https://telegram.org
Telegram messages are heavily encrypted and can self-destruct. Synced. Telegram lets you access your chats from multiple devices.
Telegram is a freeware, cross-platform, cloud-based instant messaging service. The service also provides end-to-end encrypted video calling, VoIP, file sharing and several other features. It was launched for iOS on 14 August 2013 and Android on 20 October 2013. Wikipedia
Available in: 58 languages
Initial release: August 14, 2013; 8 years ago
Platform: Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, Web platform
Developer(s): Telegram FZ LLC; Telegram Messenger Inc
Written in: C++, C, Java
Vote Green for Peace! all ships can rise. https://www.gp.org/register
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