It used to be called social networking, then social media, then a billionaire bought Twitter and it went further downhill from there. Now Facebook has ditched any pretence at upholding what is true1 and gone full-on MAGA with Trump supporters appointed to the board2.
I will leave others to document the decline of the main players but I stopped using Twitter, reduced my use of Facebook and have not really used Instagram in a number of years (Meta own Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp).
The main sites I am using for “social networking” these days are:
| Site and profile link | Logo (click to join) | Strengths | Drawbacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mastodon |  | Distributed, federated, volunteer controlled. Community orientated. | Learning curve, not “popular” with non-tech masses. Limited options to move social graph. |
| Bluesky |  | Easy to use, looks like Twitter, popular. | Not distributed, all posts public. A bit “corporate” feeling. |
| Pixelfed |  | Easy to use, federated, distributed, a lot like instagram. | Low adoption, users need to find a server to host. |
I like all three of the above for different reasons but I have yet to find the killer app to replace Facebook. My friends from the UK, my family, my colleagues are all on Facebook and as a bit of a “walled garden” I feel happier posting my personal photos on the site which are not quite as public as instagram/pixelfed. I also get some information from pages, groups and events on Facebook. Most importantly I chat with my mother on Facebook messenger almost every day. As I withdraw from Meta products more and more, I will see how important each of these are – it may end up just as a messenger or I may find a way to transition my mother onto a different chat app.
- https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/07/new-era-of-lies-mark-zuckerberg-meta-social-media ↩︎
- https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/07/dana-white-meta-board ↩︎
@matthewguy I wished education institutions would stop promoting these types of platforms, as this give the impression that they approve the usage of hate, disinformation and just plain garbage.