With Trump returning to the presidency, a number of tech companies seem determined to curry the thin-skinned commander-in-chief’s favor. That and/or said companies view Trump’s return as an excuse to openly engage in hostile, bigoted, and regressive policies. One major example: Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. This week, Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a sweeping range of changes; however, none of them are good, especially if you’re a person of color, LGBTQ, and/or not male. Engadget, The Verge, and 404 Media have details, but to list a few changes:
- An end to Meta’s DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs, including hiring goals and attracting minority-owned businesses.
- Removing transgender and nonbinary Pride related themes from Facebook Messenger.
- Dropping fact checking measures.
- A loosening of what hate speech is allowed on Facebook and Instagram. Posters are now free to call LGBTQ folk “mentally ill,” call transgender and nonbinary people “it,” and refer to women as household objects. Meta’s new policy also uses the problematic term “transgenderism.”
It’s all very disgusting; I don’t have any regrets in recently shuttering my Facebook page. Unfortunately, what makes all this particularly bad is that it’s, well, Facebook. While there are alternatives to Twitter, a social network that the general public can make do without, Facebook and Instagram are still treated as major pieces of online infrastructure; WhatsApp is treated as the default messaging app in much of the world outside North America.
That said, for those that are interested in alternatives to Zuckerberg’s apps, I’ve listed what options I can think of below.
Facebook alternatives
One reason replacing Facebook is difficult is it does a mix of multiple services under one app. As such, it require separate services to replace. Still, I’d suggest any or all of the following:
A blog and/or newsletter
If one needs a public spot to post one’s thoughts, issue news updates, or just maintain a basic online presence, a blog still works. Options include a self-hosted WordPress blog, WordPress.com (despite its owners’ current issues), Ghost, and Tumblr.
A newsletter is another option, with the advantage of said newsletter being emailed to recipients. Buttondown is an excellent newsletter service. I’d avoid Substack, whose hate speech policies are somehow worse than Meta’s.
Everyone online has an email address, so if there’s nothing else, this is a guaranteed way to communicate with others. You can also subscribe to newsletters via email.
An RSS reader, Google News, or Apple News
If you’re using Facebook just to keep up with news or site updates, an alternative is to use a news app like Google News or Apple News (depending on what devices you use). For the more technically inclined, an RSS reader lets you add feeds for most sites you follow.
Another social network
Of course, there’s also using another social network, even if its features aren’t exact clones of Facebook. These days, the best alternatives are probably Mastodon and Bluesky.
Instagram’s a bit easier than Facebook to replace, since it has just one core function: displaying photos. The best alternatives I can think of include:
Pixelfed
Pixelfed is an ActivityPub-based Instagram clone, similar to its cousin Mastodon. It does the basics: display photos in a chronological feed, tag them, and (unlike Instagram) can even link to external sites. That said, Pixelfed still has some rough edges, having similar pros and cons as Mastodon. You’ll have to pick a server to sign up, though pixelfed.social, the default one, is what most should choose. As of this writing, the iOS app is still in beta, but the Android app has just been released; as Pixelfed is web based, using it as a web app is another option.
My Pixelfed page is here.
Flickr
Flickr still exists, even if it’s not as popular as it was years ago. The photo hosting service still offers the same range of features, including Creative Commons licensing as an option. However, the free tier has various limits, including a maximum of 1000 photos per account; the paid tier (with unlimited photos and ad-free browsing) costs about $10 a month.
A blog
A photo blog is another option, with the advantage of owning your own platform if you self host. That said, it might not be as convenient as a photo specific app, though Tumblr’s app lets you upload images from your phone.
Threads
Bluesky and/or Mastodon
Replacing Threads is easy: Bluesky and/or Mastodon. Both have features Threads lacks, and have better moderation rules about hate speech.
WhatsApp/Facebook Messenger
Signal, Telegram, or text messaging
While WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are popular, they’re still owned by Meta. Fortunately, there are other messaging apps; popular ones include Signal and Telegram. There’s also plain old text messaging, of course.
Image: Facebook’s new headquarters sign. (Meta)
