Facebook took the internet by storm when it went global in 2006 and it is the biggest social network now. When it comes to social media, Facebook is the king. That’s why, depsite numerous privacy concerns, it’s not showing any signs of slowing down. There is nothing that can match Facebook right now. Some people might argue Twitter is better but it’s not really an alternative, and it’s certainly not aimed at people who want to be in touch with friends and families.
Well, now that we have established the fact that there are no true Facebook alternatives, let’s cut to the chase that we do have several other social networks that aim at specific users. For instance, there are networks aimed at photographers, apps for designers, startups, investors etc. Well, if you have been looking to delete Facebook and replace it with a worthy alternative, here are options that you should look at in 2022.
Best Facebook Alternatives for Different Users in 2022
We have divided this article in sections for different use-cases. You can use the table of content below to quickly jump to the section you want.
Why we need a Facebook alternative?
Everything has its pros and cons and so does Facebook. While Facebook has become a part of our lives and it is loved by millions, it has got its share of criticisms. It has been panned across the globe for its ever changing privacy settings, which gives Facebook total control over the information that we provide on our accounts.
Then there are big privacy scandals such as Cambridge Analytica. Facebook’s experiments with the News Feed have also not gone down too well with users. The company’s Internet.org initiative has also made sure to irk net neutrality enthusiasts. To sum it up, these are good enough reasons to need Facebook alternatives.
Facebook Alternative for Photographers and Artists (Photography/Art)
If you are a professional photographer or even a budding one, 500px is the place you should visit more often instead of Facebook. 500 px is a very strong photography community and along with interaction with other photographers, you will get to see some amazing pictures. The website also brings various tools and features for photographers. you can also check out other alternatives if you have some disliking to 500px.
Whether you are an aspiring photographer or a pro with years of expertise, Flickr can go a long way in giving your stunning shots the needed exposure. What makes it a great Facebook alternative for photographers is a massive community where you can explore top-notch images.
With some really handy organizing tools, you can create your own selection of fascinating photos and keep them organized. Not just that, Flickr mobile app also comes with some cool filters and editing tools to let you fine-tune your images and blast them on the image hosting site so that they can get plenty of traction.
DeviantArt is the perfect platform for artists, who want to showcase their art galleries to the world. It has a great community of artists you can interact with and along with that you get to see some great art. There are a number of features that aim at making life easier for artists and moreover, it also makes sure the artists get their due credit.
Facebook Alternative for Designers
Behance is a great community for designers where people can showcase their creative designs and discover some great work. Along with the community, Behance allows you to follow and like other designers or their work. You can also get in touch with people to discuss designs.
Behance has been blocked in India by the government, but you can access it using VPN services. Or, if that’s not the way you want to go, you can check out the other Facebook alternatives for designers mentioned below.
I guess you didn’t expect me to give Adobe Portfolio a miss, did you? Well, if you are willing to create a good-looking site where you can showcase your masterpiece, you should keep Portfolio in mind. The site comes with a plethora of layouts and also offers a wide range of customization so that you can create a site that can appeal to your audience.
Another notable feature of Portfolio is that it automatically optimizes your site for any device to ensure it can run smoothly. That’s not all, the pro version of Portfolio can offer access to the whole collection of Adobe creative apps that can enhance your creativity.
Dribbble is another great platform for designers where a designer can upload a shot of his design or application to showcase it to others. If you are designer, you should definitely give Dribbble a shot, as it’s completely design oriented. It’s great whether you’re into animation, web design, illustration, typography, product design, or anything else. Dribbble has categories for all types of designers which makes it a great Facebook alternative.
Facebook Alternative for Professionals/Career oriented needs
LinkedIn has been a popular platform for professionals and it continues to remain so. LinkedIn gives you the ability to interact with other professionals, recruit employees and find jobs. It’s also great if you want to be up to date on the latest business and industry news. There’s also LinkedIn Pulse if you want to share new ideas with other big names of the industry.
If LinkedIn claims to be the best FaceBook alternative for professionals and career-oriented needs, CareerBuilder is not behind in the race either. When it comes to providing attractive job listings, career advice, and resume posting, it’s second to none. That’s not all, unlike Facebook, it also offers handy resources for job seekers.
Not just that, CareerBuilder is far more reliable than Facebook as the former sources job listings directly from companies. Even better, it has also collaborated with several companies to expand local listings.
Facebook Alternative for Media Sharing
Instagram, owned by Facebook has grown over the past few years by leaps and bounds. It’s an all round social network, as it lets you upload photos, short videos and even exchange texts with others.
The great thing is you can set Instagram to post your updates on your Facebook, Twitter and other profiles as well. Thanks to Instagram’s popularity, there has been a rise in apps similar to Instagram, which you can check out. People love Instagram so much, that in future, it might end up replacing Facebook.
Chances are you already use it and although YouTube is not really a Facebook alternative, it’s a great video sharing platform. It’s the home for some great videos and original content, which makes up for an amazing community. Along with YouTube, there are a number of great video sharing platforms like Vimeo, DailyMotion and more.
Going by the latest trend, TikTok has become the go-to platform for sharing lip-syncing videos. And if you are after a Facebook substitute that can let you share and explore fun-loving bite-sized videos, look no further than ByteDance’s offering.
Just like Facebook, this video-sharing site also creates a fully personalized video feed so that you can quickly access the sort of videos that appeal to your fancy. Courtesy a huge community of creators, you will always have a variety of videos – from gaming to comedy to memes – to watch. As a creator, you get a ton of eye-catching filters and insanely crazy music to add some glam quotient to your clips.
TikTok was banned by the Indian Government last year, but there are a ton of TikTok alternatives that you can check out instead. Plus, you can now share TikTok-like videos on Instagram Reels as well. If you’re interested, make sure you check out our comparison between TikTok vs Instagram Reels, and some great Instagram Reels tips and tricks.
Discussion Forums
Reddit is a public forum where people post and comment on things they are interested in. Generally, Reddit users share questions, stories, images or anything that may be interesting. Then, people connect with each other through comments. The great community Reddit has built over the years makes it a great social platform. There are also some cool Reddit alternatives you should check out.
You have a question and you want to ask others? Visit Quora. It’s the best place for all the questions and some amazing answers. The question can be on any topic and you can even post personal doubts as anonymous. You can re-ask questions that are already posted and upvote answers that you believe are great.
Microblogging
There’s no need to introduce Twitter, as it’s almost growing as fast as Facebook and is one of the biggest Facebook competitors. While it’s the home for smaller posts /tweets, it is a great medium and it has made sure some problems around the world come forward to everyone. Twitter is arguably the most fun and easy to use social network among all.
Facebook Alternative for Dating
There are a number of cupid apps but Tinder is most certainly the best among them. For people unaware about Tinder, it’s a popular dating app that matches two people when they have both swiped right, that is “like”. If you don’t like Tinder, there are a host of other alternative dating apps.
Facebook Alternative for User reviews
Previously known as Angie’s List, this Facebook alternative for user reviews has been renamed to Angi. It’s great for anyone having trouble choosing the best shops around the neighbourhood, and a lot more. Angi is a website where you can find reviews of local businesses by users. Along with reviews, you can find ratings and deals around your neighbourhood. The website only lists U.S. based businesses for now though.
Facebook Alternative for Movie lovers
IMDb is the go-to website for movie lovers and deservedly so. It’s a great website where you can read reviews of a movie from various users and rate movies you’ve just watched. Along with that, you can also discuss various movies on the “Message Board” with the very cool community. There’s also IMDbPro, if you want to get in touch with an actor or artist.
Rotten Tomatoes is another website every movie lover visits to take an opinion on a movie. The popular movie rating website collects ratings from users and critics. It shows the ratings in a cool Tomatometer feature, and if the movie is fresh, it’s good and if rotten, not so much.
Facebook Alternative for Programmers/Developers
GitHub is a network for programmers, where developers can take help to develop their projects better. It provides tools for your programming needs along with codes you can fork for your own project. You can also choose to not make your code public but that requires a paid subscription. There’s also issue tracking, code reviews and more. If you would like to use something other than GitHub, there are a number of good alternatives.
If you’re a developer or an aspiring programmer, you’ve probably heard of or visited Stack Overflow. The platform’s excellent Q&A section will help you out if you run into issues during your coding sessions. Simply put, Stack Overflow is a programmer’s best friend and is something developers across the world use on a daily basis. Moreover, you can also make use of its jobs portal to land your dream job.
Facebook alternative for Startup enthusiasts/Investors
AngelList is a great platform for startups and people looking to invest in a startup. It’s a great way for investors to connect with startups. There are also options to find a startup job, posts jobs and raise money for your company online. To sum it up, it’s an awesome c0mmunity of the best seed investors across the world.
Crunchbase is another great platform if you have a budding company or a startup. It’s a community of various companies, startups, VC and other investment groups. Every one of them has profiles and startups can connect with seed investors. Various companies can also get in touch and collaborate for a project.
Facebook Alternative for Live Streaming
We can’t talk about live streaming without mentioning Twitch, can we? Twitch is a live-streaming platform with a special focus on gaming. Gamers can use the platform to stream games and interact with the community. Apart from gaming-centric channels, Twitch also has a ‘Just Chatting’ for casual conversations. If you’re a gamer, Twitch is a viable alternative to Facebook Gaming.
Facebook Alternative for Music Lovers
I don’t think Spotify needs any introduction here, does it? Boasting more than 250 million subscribers, the world’s most popular music-streaming service has got all sorts of ingredients to offer a great music-listening experience. Packed with a huge library of music, the app is designed to cater to every taste. Furthermore, it’s got a pretty intuitive UI and comes with personalized recommendations so that discovering cool songs for streamings remains easy-picking.
That’s not all, Spotify is also home to a ton of podcasts so that you can tune-into your favorite podcasts. Long story short, if you are hunting for a Facebook alternative to spice up your music listening, chances are pretty high that Spotify will win you over right away!
SoundCloud is one of the largest music community and social network on the internet. If you are an independent music producer and want to showcase your music to the world, SoundCloud should be the perfect place. It lets you market your tracks and thanks to the likes & repost feature, you should get the traction you deserve.
Apple Music, as the name suggests, is a music streaming service from Apple. With over 70 million songs and curated playlists, you should not miss out on the service if you like streaming music. Although the platform doesn’t offer a free ad-supported tier, Apple Music is a compelling option, especially if you’re an iPhone user or someone who has invested in the Apple ecosystem.
Miscellaneous Facebook Alternatives
If you’re looking for a Facebook alternative for simple voice conversations with people from around the world, Clubhouse is the place to be. The app offers groups where you can join in on discussions with other people interested in similar topics, and you can create your own room to start talking about something you’re interested in as well.
The app is pretty much like a Podcast that’s always running and has tonnes of different topics to explore. Whether you want to talk about Apple’s latest software updates, or just stand-up comedy, or even theoretical physics, you can find it all on Clubhouse. If Clubhouse doesn’t interest you, there are many apps like Clubhouse that you can check out as well.
If you wanted a social network to connect you to your neighbourhood, NextDoor is the perfect platform for you. It’s a social network to socialise among the people in your locality. You can use it to set up a neighbourhood get together, find local help, get tips and more.
Doximity is a social network for physicians and doctors. Doctors and Physicians have their profiles on their network and they can connect with each other. They can also find job openings at leading hospitals and other such opportunities.
Discord is a social platform to engage with communities. It has topic-based channels within servers to facilitate better communication on niche topics. You can use Discord for staying close to the communities you care about. In addition, you can use the app to share your screen with friends and family. You can create new Discord servers, add Discord soundboards to have some fun, and more. Plus, there are some amazing Discord bots that can enhance your server, and if you still don’t like the service, you should check out our list of Discord alternatives.
MeWe is a rising Facebook alternative that calls itself the ‘next-gen social network’. The platform’s interface and features closely resemble Facebook and it is clearly designed to replicate Facebook. What makes MeWe different is that it doesn’t offer ads. Plus, MeWe claims that it doesn’t share or sell your personal information to advertisers or marketers. However, the platform’s loose content moderation policies make it a breeding ground for misinformation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Is Facebook losing its popularity?
Despite its scandals, Facebook is not showing any signs of slowing down. In fact, the social media giant witnessed a surge in usage during the coronavirus pandemic.
Q. Is MeWe a good alternative to Facebook ?
MeWe has the potential to be a good alternative to Facebook, but its content moderation policies are not up to the mark.
Q. What social media is not owned by Facebook?
Social media platforms such as Reddit, Twitter, LinkedIn are not owned by Facebook. You can scroll up to see all the Facebook alternatives you can use.
Q. Which social media is best for privacy?
Mastadon is a solid solution for anyone looking for a platform built with privacy in mind. Although it comes closer to a Twitter alternative, you should consider using it if you’re concerned about privacy. It is free, open-source, and ad-free.
Q. What happens to Facebook accounts when someone dies?
Facebook offers an option to assign a trusted contact to let friends know that they have passed away. After the contact chooses to memorialize the Facebook account, the profile gets locked with a ‘Remembering’ tag.
Q. Did Facebook buy Instagram?
Yes, Facebook acquired Instagram in a $1 billion deal back in April of 2012.
Q. Is it better to use Facebook app or browser?
If you’re on a PC, you should use Facebook on a browser. On the other hand, Facebook app provides a better experience on mobile devices.
Q. Why should you avoid Facebook?
Facebook is a privacy nightmare and knows more about you than you think. You can follow our guide to delete your Facebook account if you want to regain your privacy on the internet.
Best Facebook Alternatives You Should be Using
That ends our article on the best Facebook alternatives that you can use the replace the social media giant. I hope you find the perfect alternative for you. If we missed anything, mention it in the comments below along with your favorite replacement Facebook apps.
