2018 hasn’t been the best year for Facebook. The company has been involved in a lot of controversy, and many people are looking to switch from Facebook and start using something else. The company has faced a number of security-related issues in 2018, and has managed to scare off quite a few people with it. If you’re amongst Facebook users who are looking for alternatives, you’ll be glad to know that there are quite a few out there, and we did our best to select the best ones. In the list down below, you will find nine applications, all of which have at least some elements of Facebook, and all of which connect people in one way or the other. Before you start browsing, please do note that these apps are not listed in a specific order, so just because an app is first in line, doesn’t mean it’s the best out of the bunch. Different people have different needs, so it’s good that all of these apps have something different offer.
Twitter is probably the first social network that comes to mind when you think of a Facebook competitor, and one of the largest social media networks in the world. Twitter is quite popular on a global scale, though it’s most popular in the US, and it has been that way for a while. Twitter has been in a good place for quite some time now, and the company’s app is also quite good. This social media network works a bit differently to Facebook, but people can follow you, and you can communicate with them, either via “Tweets” that you want to share with everyone, or via comments / personal messages.
Instagram is owned by Facebook, let’s just get that out of the way. That being said, this app / service is considerably different to Facebook. Instagram puts all the focus on images, you cannot simply publish some text here. Instagram is quite possibly the most popular platform of this kind, people send out tons of pictures on a daily basis via Instagram, and chances are that most people you know use this service. So, if you like images, short clips or video, Instagram may be an ideal Facebook replacement for you.
Reddit has been around for quite some time, and it’s extremely popular, though it’s completely different than any other app on this list. Reddit is more of a forum hybrid, as it functions based on “subreddits”, each of which is limited to a specific type of content. In some subreddits you’ll find Android news, in some pictures of cute dogs, while in the third one you can find some really odd stuff, depending on what you opt to follow. You can communicate with people via Reddit, via comments, and it’s a great way of keeping busy when you have some downtime… as long as you pick the right subreddits.
Pinterest is a social network that has been around for quite some time, though it never became as popular as Facebook or Twitter. Once you create your profile, and select what interests you, you will be thrown into a menu which is often referred to as the “wall”, where you will find various “pins” from tons of different people. So, if you chose DIY as one of your interests, you will be able to see various DIY projects on your wall. You can either comment or repin those pins, and this is actually a great way to share your work, products, and so on. Pinterest cannot compare to Facebook or Twitter based on sheer numbers, but plenty of people use it.
Snapchat
Snapchat is a camera app hybrid. That may sound weird, but it’s not your regular camera that takes pictures and saves them to your phone, not at all. This app allows you to record some video with various live filters which Snapchat popularized, and share those videos with your friends, family or total strangers, it’s up to you. You will find various stickers and bitmoji in Snapchat, and it’s a really fun app to use overall.
Nextdoor
Nextdoor is a social network for your neighborhood, basically. Using this app, you can organize a neighborhood watch, find a babysitter if you need it, or get a handyman. Are you looking for someone to walk your dogs while you’re gone? Well, you can find that via this app as well. The app will also help you stay up to date to your neighborhood news, and so on. This app is actually used by a ton of neighborhoods, though it’s availability is region-locked, so keep that in mind, as it’s most-used in the US, and we’re not really sure what other regions are available.
If you’re looking to get a bit more serious, and replace Facebook with a business-oriented social network, well, then LinkedIn is for you, definitely. This social network will help you find jobs, communicate with companies, and make acquaintances to push your business forward. LinkedIn can be a really useful tool to kickstart your career, while the company’s app is well-designed, and it actually works really well.
MeWe
MeWe is an app that I started testing out not long ago, but it seems to be quite popular in some circles. This app will help you to connect with people you want to stay connected with, it will allow you to post photos, videos, and gifs, while you can also communicate with people with likes, emojis, and so on. Private chats are enabled in this application as well, same goes for group chats. MeWe is actually quite similar to your regular social networks, that most of us are used to, which is probably why it managed to become quite popular.
FamilyWall
If you’re looking for a family-oriented social network, then FamilyWall is for you. This app will make sure that members of the family can communicate securely, and it also comes with a color-coded calendar, shopping lists, and a real-time family locator. You can share various image and videos with your family, and you can also organize groups chats and what not. Family contacts are also set to the side in this app, and everything is very well organized in terms of the design.