The 7 Best Facebook Alternatives in 2024

Facebook can be overwhelming (or annoying), and sometimes what you need is a smaller, more focused community

This article covers a variety of solid alternatives to Facebook worth trying for those thinking of changing social networks because of privacy and security concerns or a need to try something new and exciting.

We’ve found eight Facebook alternatives proving plenty of social media fish are left in the internet sea.

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Best FB Alternative for Friends and Family: Instagram

Social media network, Instagram.
What We Like
  • The focus on photos and video make posts easy to consume.

  • Most Facebook users are already on Instagram.

What We Don't Like
  • Instagram is owned by Facebook so it's not an option if you have privacy concerns.

  • Spam messages and comments are common.

If you’re dropping Facebook as part of a plan to downsize the number of apps installed on your phone or to reduce the number of websites you visit per day, switching over to Instagram full-time isn’t a bad idea. The vast majority of your Facebook friends will likely already be on Facebook. Many will already post their family and other life updates on their Instagram profiles. The best part is that most Instagram users keep discussions about politics, world news, and religion to a minimum. Win-win.

However, if you’re leaving Facebook out of concern for your privacy and personal data, Instagram isn’t for you. It’s now very much linked to Facebook, and any problems you had with data collection on Facebook will also apply to Instagram.

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Best Facebook Groups Alternative: Reddit

Facebook alternative platform, Reddit.
What We Like
  • Established platform with millions of users discussing every topic imaginable.

  • Conversations are very easy to participate in.

  • User profiles look and work like Facebook profiles.

What We Don't Like
  • The text-heavy design may intimidate some users.

  • Reddit is more about public conversations than private connections.

Those looking for an alternative to Facebook’s Groups feature will find much to like about Reddit, which has forums for almost every theme and community under the sun. From Xbox video games to the latest cooking recipes and UFO sightings, there’s a Reddit thread for everyone, and most of them are incredibly active, even more so than on Facebook.

Joining Reddit and posting in discussions is relatively straightforward. However, some can be confused when navigating replies to a post that are sometimes collapsed and formatted unintuitively. Reddit also strongly focuses on discussions, which is excellent, though it may disappoint those used to Facebook Group’s user-centric focus.

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Best Facebook Alternative for Messaging: Telegram

Telegram social network app.
What We Like
  • All of the capabilities of Facebook Messenger.

  • Very easy to add contacts and begin new chats.

  • Telegram has a strong focus on privacy.

What We Don't Like
  • You may need to spend some time convincing friends and family members to install it.

  • You’ll need to check each contact individually to see their posts.

Telegram is one of the fastest-growing messaging apps, boasting over 500 million active users. One of the main reasons for this increase in popularity is its focus on privacy.

Telegram features all of the main communication features of Facebook’s DM service, such as text chats, voice calls, fun stickers (you can make Telegram stickers), and media attachments. It also supports group calls with support for millions of listeners, groups, and public channels that you can post to like you would on a Facebook profile.

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Best FB Alternative for News: X (Formerly Twitter)

Twitter social media news site.
What We Like
  • Strong support for both the web and app versions.

  • Few other social networks come close for breaking news announcements.

  • Very easy to use and a massive userbase.

What We Don't Like
  • It may be hard to convince older relatives to sign up.

  • A lot of the trending topics can be junk, a problem Facebook also has.

Did you Quit Facebook and want another social network with a strong news focus? You can’t beat X, which has over 300 million monthly active users posting about the latest happenings worldwide.

News stories almost always break on this platform before Facebook and other sites. It also provides users the rare opportunity to interact with editors and journalists directly due to the high number of media personnel using the service. X may not be great for catching up with family members, but it can’t be topped for staying up-to-date on the news.

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Coolest FB Alternative Social Network: Vero

Vero social media app on iPhone.
What We Like
  • A very stylish smartphone app with a fresh design and premium feel.

  • A chronological timelines means you won’t miss posts by friends.

  • Connecting your phone’s contacts makes it very easy to find friends and family already on Vero.

What We Don't
  • The lack of a web version can make it hard to share your profile with others.

  • Vero will require new users to pay a membership fee eventually which could limit growth.

Vero is a terrific alternative to Facebook that’s worth checking out. This social network is an app-only service, but the app is beautifully designed and easy to use.

One of the main appeals of Vero is its chronological timeline which shows all of your feed’s posts in order of when they were published. Just like Facebook used to do back in the day. Vero’s also attracted many celebrities, which gives the experience a bit of a premium vibe and makes it feel more legitimate than some of the other alternate social media platforms. Its plans to transition to a paid model for all new users will enhance this elite feel. Users who sign up prior to that paid version's release don’t have to worry, though, as everyone who’s signed up before the change will have a free account for life.

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Most-Promising Facebook Alternative: Minds

Minds social media website.
What We Like
  • Strong focus of privacy and data security.

  • Posts, friends, and groups work similarly to Facebook.

  • Very active userbase.

What We Don't Like
  • Working out how the Minds token works can be very confusing at first.

  • Making money on Minds requires cryptocurrency knowhow.

Minds launched in 2015 in direct response to the growing concern around Facebook and the amount of data it was collecting on its users. The network prides itself on prioritizing its users' privacy and security and, unlike Facebook, doesn’t collect user activity information to create an algorithmic activity feed at all.

The Minds network is accessible via a website and smartphone app, available on both iOS and Android devices. It works very similar to Facebook regarding its user profiles, feeds, posts, sharing, and groups. However, it does set itself apart by incorporating its cryptocurrency, which users can earn by creating engaging content. Subscribers can use the cryptocurrency, the Minds token, to promote posts on the network or exchanged for other crypto and cash.

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Best Facebook Alternative for Work: LinkedIn

Facebook alternative network, LinkedIn.
What We Like
  • One of the safest social networks around with almost zero bullying and harassment.

  • A much better place for finding job openings than Facebook.

  • Highly engaged users on a variety of professional topics.

What We Don't Like
  • LinkedIn is not the place for family or personal discussions.

  • Connecting with accounts and inviting contacts to sign up is very confusing.

You’ve likely heard LinkedIn referred to as a reliable website for job seekers and recruiters. It’s also evolved into a solid social network in recent years with a renewed focus on its activity feed, the introduction of multimedia posts, and even stories.

While LinkedIn isn’t exactly an excellent alternative to Facebook for people who want to chat about family gossip. It is a great social network for those who wish to post and read about companies, finance, real estate, and other more professional topics. It’s also an excellent replacement for those who used the Facebook Marketplace to search for or post job openings. LinkedIn is vastly superior to Facebook in this regard as this entire social network is designed around the job application and employee discovery process.

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