The only sure thing about social media is that it’s always changing. Today’s alternative social media sites might very well become tomorrow’s most popular platforms — which is why it might pay for marketers to at least become familiar with newer, (currently) less-traveled options.
Consider this: Roughly a decade ago, Myspace was at the height of its popularity. (Remember your child-self agonizing over every element of your profile page?)
Soon, Facebook (rebranded from “The Facebook”) started gaining on Myspace and a hundred other social media platforms entered the chat. Some stood the test of time; some didn’t. (RIP Friendster, Meerkat, Yik Yak and Vine.)
Twitter arrived in 2006. Instagram and Pinterest launched in 2010, then Snapchat and WeChat came a year later. TikTok was born in 2016. And with the exception of Myspace, all of the above have largely dominated ever since, drowning out all other social media names.
At least, until recently.
We won’t name any names, but a couple of social media platforms have struggled more than usual of late. Censorship allegations. Falling out of popularity with Gen Z. Erratic leadership. And as a result, a bunch of new kids on the block have suddenly stolen some of the spotlight.
If you’re suddenly finding that some of the old-guard sites just aren’t what they used to be, read on. We’ll explore some of the most prominent alternative social media sites that you might want to include in your company’s social marketing strategy.
Check Out These 4 Emerging Social Sites!
Mastodon
Mastodon bills itself as an open-source social media network that’s “not for sale.”
From a more practical perspective, it acts in some ways like Twitter. However, while all Twitter users basically exist in the same social universe, Mastodon users are split among numerous servers, which they select when they initially sign up. These servers, or “instances,” might cater to certain interests (like, say, technology or art), or they might be more general in nature. Moderation also occurs on an instance level, so one server might be better-moderated than another.
But don’t worry: You can still follow users from other servers, so you do have access to virtually everyone else on Mastodon, even if you’re not on their instance.
Mastodon promises not to sell ads — a breath of fresh air for people who are tired of their feeds being clogged by thinly veiled commercials. That is a limitation for social marketers, but you can still create a profile for your business and post like any other user.
CounterSocial
CounterSocial (CS) is in many ways similar to Mastodon. It was built on Mastodon’s open-source code, it also acts similarly to Twitter, and its messages are even referred to as “toots,” just like Mastodon.
However, CounterSocial takes a much more proactive approach to moderation and user safety.
Designed to combat “fake news and propaganda,” CounterSocial uses artificial intelligence (AI) to quickly analyze uploaded content to guard against deepfakes. The platform has a zero-tolerance policy for bullying, trolling and abuse, and like Mastodon, CS doesn’t allow ads.
One of the biggest reasons people are hopping onboard CounterSocial is the platform’s promise not to sell user data — something that more traditional platforms do on the daily. (We’re looking at you, Zuckerberg.)
Post News
When you visit the Post News website, you’re greeted with a question: “Remember when social media was fun?” This social media platform intends to bring us back to a better time, one with “real people, real news, and civil conversations.”
Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?
The site is still in beta, with 140,000 activated accounts and a waitlist of nearly 400k as of last 2022.
Post News intends to reward both news publishers and independent journalists by inviting authors to put their premium content behind a paywall. Users can pay by the piece rather than sign up for multiple subscriptions.
Hive Social
Another up-and-coming social media platform designed to make things fun again, Hive Social invites users to create polls, Q&As and text and image posts. And, in a throwback to the days of Myspace, you can even add music to your profile!
Tired of Facebook algorithms hiding posts from your IRL friends and family in favor of paid ads? Hive Social is the way to go. It also offers a chronological feed so you’ll never miss a post.
It’s not a high-tech as some of the other emerging social media platforms, but it brings us back to what social media was intended to be: social!
Will 2023 Be the Year You Try Something New?
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn aren’t going anywhere. Neither are Instagram, TikTok or Pinterest. But there’s a natural evolution to social media, and new offerings are always coming down the pike. It’s anybody’s guess whether these new platforms will stand the test of time, but if your business’s fans and followers are exploring them, you should be, too!
At Mischa Communications, we keep a close eye on the hottest marketing trends so that you don’t have to. Interested in seeing what we can do for your business? Let’s talk.