SHOULD YOU BE ON THESE SOCIAL MEDIA ALTERNATIVES?

There are many reasons you may be considering switching from the big 3 (X, Instagram, Meta). Whether it's privacy concerns or having more difficulty monetizing your content, you may have considered using other social media platforms as a content creator.

Here's a breakdown of why you may consider switching.

 

Why content creators should consider switching

A big reason to switch to alternative social media platforms is creative ownership. X uses your posts and comments to train AI. It allows both Grok, X’s proprietary AI, and third party AI to train using your data. Your creativity is big business to AI, but you’re not getting a cut.

Given AI’s increasing ability to mimic human craft, what you post now could be the food that fuels the AI takeover of your personal art and identity.

Not only are you at the whim of their data-usage policies, you’re also at risk of losing your audience entirely, as government agencies move to crack down on social media which over-reaches its power. We saw this with the ban of TikTok in the US earlier this year, which temporarily plunged many creators on (and users of) the platform into a panic.

There’s also the fact that you’re in competition with a rage machine. The algorithm favors high engagement content, and nothing increases engagement like outrage. Outrage attracts engagement, engagement boosts visibility.

The ability to manipulate outrage is big business. It can sway elections. More money than any individual creator can offer has been plunged into this pursuit and, left unchecked, the algorithm could unfairly promote this content over yours.

If that wasn’t reason enough, there’s also the matter of image. Anyone with a public facing image - celebrities, journalists and content creators alike - want to be on the right side of history. For some, simply using networks involved in this activity signalled a level of complicity with its actions.

Respected pillar of British journalism, the Guardian newspaper, announced it will no longer post on X. You can read their reasons here but, in a nutshell, it was down to the platform’s promotion of far right and racist views and its ability to influence political discussion.

So, what are the alternatives? We look at some of the key challengers of power: Bluesky, MeWe, and Pixelfed.

 

Bluesky (alternative social medium to X)

A big plus for Bluesky is that you can choose your algorithm, essentially controlling what you’re fed. You can be algorithm neutral or you can select your algorithm - say, you only want to see posts by a certain celebrity or content about self-care. You can use an algorithm you create or use one someone else has created.

Bluesky also operates on a decentralised system. So, where X only runs on X’s servers, controlled by X, Bluesky will run on multiple independent servers. Where your content is kept on X’s platform, with Bluesky you can move your content elsewhere. On X, if they kick you off, you can’t access your content, with Bluesky, you can transfer your account, complete with all your content (username, posts, follower connections) to another server.

What does this mean for creators? Well:
1. You have ownership of your content and connections

2. You can future proof the content you’ve created

3. You can get in early and own your niche, potentially reaching a more engaged audience for whom seeing relevant content is important

4. You can network with early adopters, likely to have a strong presence as the platform matures

5. You can do this in tandem with your activity on other platforms

Many people are leaving Elon Musk's X for alternative social media platforms and Bluesky is the most prominent choice. Those making the move include Lizzo, Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephen King and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

You can check out journalists on Bluesky and celebrities on Bluesky to see if someone, aligned with your social media identity or content, is active on the platform.

 

MeWe (alternative social medium to Facebook)

MeWe describes itself as a privacy-first social media. “No surveillance. No algorithms.”

If your audience in particular are concerned with data privacy, this platform and this topic could be a great way to connect with them. While you monetize on another platform (this isn’t possible on MeWe), you can opt to deliver specialized or premium content with a greater level of privacy protection to those willing to make the switch and be part of your growing community.

In terms of content formats, there’s a good variety. You can create posts, stories, live stream and start group discussions.

 

Pixelfed (alternative social medium to Instagram)

Pixelfed is another decentralized platform. You can run it on an existing server or move your account to your own server, ultimately putting you in full control of your content.
It’s part of the fediverse, an ecosystem of alternative social media which prioritises privacy and freedom from unelected algorithms.
Since there are no algorithms, content is surfaced chronologically, which means your audience will see them as consistently as you post.
Without ad revenue models, for creators, the aim of using Pixelfed for creators should be authentic interactions and visual storytelling over optimising an algorithm.

 

Is it worth it for creators?

With smaller audiences (for now) and fewer monetization options, it’s understandable that creators aren’t flocking to alternative social media just yet.

But where mainstream social media can be a saturated market for certain niches, on alternative platforms, you can carve out your position while there’s less competition.

You can also reach a more dedicated follower base, who have chosen alternative media to cut through the noise of content they don’t want to follow and yet are bombarded with it.

As social users get wise to how worryingly available their information is - every comment, interaction and even keystroke on certain social media - there’s likely to be a greater movement to alternative platforms.

Whatever your position of concern might be, it makes sense to see what’s out there.

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