Ever since Elon took over Twitter, there have been a lot of users claiming to quit the platform and move to other alternatives. Not so surprisingly, a few very similar alternatives popped up. All of these applications are not open to sign up. They are all invite-only, except for Mastodon. I finally got the chance to sign up to all these networks and so far, they seem decent.
I’ve compiled a small list of alternatives that I’ve tried below
Bluesky
My profile: https://bsky.app/profile/iam.mt
This was by far the toughest invite to get. People have been going crazy over the invite codes. They have a huge demand and apparently they’re going for $200-$400 an invite. The app needs some love in term of UX. It has the early-days-of-twiter vibe. Bluesky’s authenticity check is done via domain name verification. This is an age-old technique and a great one at that.
There’s not a lot of people on the platform yet, but I see potential. One of the most promising alternatives IMHO.
I don’t have any invites at the moment (as seen in the screenshot). If you need one, leave a comment below and I will share one as soon as I get one. A buddy of mine already has dibs on the first one.
T2
My profile: https://t2.social/mohnish
T2 doesn’t have a mobile app yet, but the mobile web app is very nicely implemented. Personally, I enjoy using it. It’s clean and minimalistic. The UI is really nice and I love the icons. The community seems very welcoming. The platform definitely needs more users. I am their 5026th user.
T2 has a unique way of checking for authenticity. You can schedule a call with their co-founder. They will hop on a video-call with you and verify your Govt. ID. This process costs $5.
This is 100% not going to scale, but, seems like a very interesting way to verify that a person is who they say they are.
I have 3 invites to T2. If you’re interested, let me know by leaving a comment below and I will share the code with you.
Mastodon
My profile: https://mastodon.cloud/@mohnish
Mastodon is by far the most boring social network I’ve used. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something very bothersome about the application. I got on to Mastodon back in 2018 and I’ve posted 3 times ever since. I signed in to my account after 4+ years and still feels the same to me. I don’t see myself using Mastodon in the future.
This was the network of choice for all the folks with the “I’m going to leave Twitter” claims, in the initial days of Elon’s Twitter 2.0. The best part is that there’s a ton of servers out there and you don’t need an invitation to sign up for an account.
Posts
My profile: https://posts.cv/mt
Posts is a confusing app in terms of context. Initially, it seemed like a professional network. After a month or so, now it seems more casual. I see users posting random things, like on Twitter.
The UX feels sluggish. I haven’t used the iOS app yet and I honestly don’t intend to. It seems overly basic, to an extent where you don’t want to use the application.
What’s next?
Personally, I only enjoyed using Bluesky and T2. Both have potential. Twitter is definitely not going anywhere. The only way to dethrone Twitter from its spot is by quality user acquisition. It’s a hard problem to solve. Bluesky has a better chance at this and I want to see how they handle it.
Right now, I want to stay active on Bluesky, T2, and Twitter. I might use Bluesky and T2 for posting and Twitter for consuming content. Doing so will surface the pros and cons I care about in these networks and make my decision-making easier. I don’t know how I’ll continue using these platforms. Whatever new platforms show up, my blog will always be my #1 place to post my thoughts.
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