Replacement Social Media sites

[Phase2]

Given that Google/YouTube/Twitter/Facebook/Pinterest/Patreon/etc have all taken to various levels of censorship, internet tracking, lack of transparency and selling of your information, I thought it would be helpful to know about what some up-and-comers are that people might want to consider using. I don't use social media sites much, so I'm sure others will have more sites and comments to add.

MeWe- possible Facebook replacement- I've been on the site for a week now. It is very privacy oriented and promises not to sell your info, unlike Facebook. They work on a Freemium model. Basic usage is free, but you can buy optional add-in upgrades. Does have firearm sales groups.

Gab- possible Twitter replacement- Emphasizes free speech. Haven't used it, but have heard mixed things.

DuckDuckGo- Google search replacement- Private searches without building up a dossier to sell to others. I've been using this site extensively for several years now and recommend it. It doesn't have *all* of Googles features, but is excellent for the 98%+ of my search needs. Make money via search-related ads (doesn't use old searches and activity), donations, and affiliate marketing fees from Amazon/Ebay links.

Startpage- Google search replacement- Similar to DuckDuckGo. Good general search tool that doesn't collect and sell personal info. Make money via (1) generic ads, and (2) optional StartMail mail service.

 

[DRob]

Merger of YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook coming soon. It will be called YouTwitFace.

 

[chezuki]

Fun fact... I actually had this pic removed from FB last week.

 

[Herr Vogel]

It is an unfortunate truth that for the majority of these services the established userbase is the product.
It's tautological. Why does everyone use Facebook? Because everyone uses Facebook. Whether or not Facebook is any good has little bearing on the subject.

The only way for an alternative to Facebook to be viable is if Facebook does something so dramatically egregious it causes a significant portion of their userbase to leave en masse. Until then, they can continue with their divide-and-conquer death of a thousand cuts, pissing off as many people as they want as long as they don't **** them all off at the same time.

 

[Denny347]

Internet and privacy in the same sentence... Small social groups are not very useful. Once they become large enough to be so, they go public and go down the same road as Facebook.

 

[Phase2]

You are correct, Herr Vogel. The network effect is very important. However, I see YouTube demonetization and censorship greatly driving down the amount of content being produced over time. Much of that will end up on alternate platforms. Facebook & Twitter have been pissing off too many people to be taken lightly. More people are getting angry about supplying content that arbitrarily gets blocked or shadow banned. One YouTube channel I watch has talked about a 90% reduction in traffic and is now depending on alternate money streams to keep going. Prager University has demonstrated that only 2% of their YouTube *subscribers* get notified of new content. If the network isn't providing you traffic, then smaller networks that don't hide you from your own subscribers start to look more promising.

I don't use Facebook at all due to their surveillance state system, but am now starting to use MeWe because one group that I'm interested in has a major presence there. I thought this thread would be valuable to identify alternate sites for those looking and to identify which might be worthwhile.

The search engines are a different category that don't really require much of a network effect and anyone can use them without losing any real benefits.

Internet and privacy in the same sentence... Small social groups are not very useful. Once they become large enough to be so, they go public and go down the same road as Facebook.

That is why I have been documenting where they make their money. If they don't have a plan to make money as they grow, then they will either die or turn to selling your information.

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

Duckduckgo.com is a top rate search engine. I have been using it over a year and have had none of the issues I had with google.

 

[Phase2]

I've found and been using two additional social media sites. Both are dedicated to providing freedom and removing censorship from their producers.

Rumble- YouTube replacement. Was formerly about short, cutesy animal videos, but in the last couple of months has welcomed a lot of conservative and news producers- Dan Bongino, Dinesh D'souza, Devin Nunes, ReutersNews, etc. It has some rough edges at this point, but they seem to be adding upgrades quickly and are responsive to their users. I'm liking it.

Locals- Probably closest to Facebook. Locals is different from any other setup I've seen. Locals produces the software, but groups or individuals run their own servers were they can create text posts, add videos and have discussions. Since they run the servers, there is no central authority to censor or ban content creators. When you log in, you can see all posts from the people you've subscribed to on your home page without curation (they don't rearrange, shadow ban, or otherwise play games). Well known content creators include Dave Rubin, Scott Adams, Andy Ngo, various prepper groups, etc. Locals site owners are allowed to add a monthly charge and will generally have some content for free and some behind the paywall.

I haven't used this one, but here is a little info:
Parler- Twitter replacement. Linked to your phone (via app or browser access requiring phone confirmation), reducing junk accounts. Emphasizes free expression and lack of censorship.

 

[Phase2]

Not a social media site, but still useful. The Drudge Report was a simple site that brought together a bunch of headlines into a central place that made it easy to find non-MSM news. It used to have a more conservative/libertarian angle, but changed a year or so ago and is now pretty much a MSM-linker with a leftist orientation. Supposedly, Drudge sold the site, but he has been entirely silent on it (likely due to a non-disclosure agreement).

Bongino.com- Drudge Report replacement. Links lots of current news articles- headlines and possibly a one-line description so you can see what is going on and read articles of interest.

 

[Magyars]

Thelibertydaily.com
A compilation of headlines and articles for conservatives...like Drudge used to be

 

[zer0day]

Along with duckduck go I use Windscribe VPN since it has a bunch of nice features. It's not pricey either.
A friend of mine asked me to check out Signals as an alternative to whatsapp since that is owned by facebook and also is prone to security breaches. Haven't gotten to it.
For social media, I'm not too much into it aside from scrolling through memes on Instagram but started looking at Minds. Seems more community based. I dont have much time to invest into social media.

You have to watch the forums on Telegram and Discord. I looked at a few but they end up asking for money somehow. Wanting you to "subscribe" to their group to stay a part of it. Then theres the scammers that want to sell you something.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Just learned of Parler today haven't really looked into yet, but it may be worth checking out. I'm not a big social media user anyways

 

[churchmouse]

Just learned of Parler today haven't really looked into yet, but it may be worth checking out. I'm not a big social media user anyways

I joined and it is a serious pain in the butt to navigate at least today.

 

[cobber]

I joined and it is a serious pain in the butt to navigate at least today.

It gets easier. Don't 'follow' too many people, or at least don't let echoed posts fill your news feed or you'll be overwhelmed.

 

[Phase2]

I saw some comments that Parler is getting slammed with rapid user growth. They are working on scaling up.

 

[churchmouse]

It gets easier. Don't 'follow' too many people, or at least don't let echoed posts fill your news feed or you'll be overwhelmed.

I have not ventured outside of attempting to set up a profile and get a proper user name outside my E-Mail.

 

[Chewie]

I joined and it is a serious pain in the butt to navigate at least today.

My wife has used parlor for a few months and said it's not that bad once you get used to it. There was a mass exodus from Twitter and 2 million people joined joined yesterday and brought the system down. It's back up now. My wife has been in IT for about 40 years so I have to trust her (if I want to eat). She bailing out of book of faces now, deleting history and posts from the last 10 years.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I just learned this today. As far as equivalency/interaction goes...

Parler = Twitter/Instagram.
MeWe = Facebook.

Ive been on both for months. Hardly visited them until today. I'm now making a concerted effort (along with quite a few friends apparently) to be off Facebook by Christmas. Twitter not so much, but hell, I really only use twitter on random days when I want to submit a traffic report to WIBC, or another media personality that checks Twitter during their show for listener input.

 

[churchmouse]

My wife has used parlor for a few months and said it's not that bad once you get used to it. There was a mass exodus from Twitter and 2 million people joined joined yesterday and brought the system down. It's back up now. My wife has been in IT for about 40 years so I have to trust her (if I want to eat). She bailing out of book of faces now, deleting history and posts from the last 10 years.

I will maintain FB due to having friends all around this rock we live on. Easy to stay in touch. I have eliminated all the progressives and douche nozzles from my contacts and no more politics. Heck I was banned from a 1911 forum over there. Go figure.

 

[Jaybird1980]

I joined and it is a serious pain in the butt to navigate at least today.

Doesn't sound good, I need it pretty simple for me to be able to use. I'm not technologically savy