5 best social networking apps that respect your privacy

It’s fun to connect with your friends and other interesting people on social media. However, most apps want to learn a lot from you and collect that data in order to sell targeted advertisements. These are five privacy-friendly alternatives to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp.

Alternative to Twitter – Mastodon

Mastodon is one of the most popular privacy-friendly social media apps. Of course, you don’t just want a place where your interests and data are safe, but also where there are plenty of other users. Mastodon is a social network developed by a non-profit through donations.

If we look at the structure and functions, we mainly see similarities with Twitter. Only your posts can contain more characters – up to 500 – and you get more control over who sees them. In addition, users can place warnings themselves on sensitive content and there is also a ‘community system’. You can join groups where members talk about a specific topic and a team of moderators reviews the content.

If you’re considering making the switch from Twitter to Mastodon, a built-in tool lets you check which Twitter friends are already active on Mastodon.

Alternative to Facebook: MeWe

MeWe is a social network that works without ads, facial recognition or a news feed that uses algorithms to determine which content can be seen. MeWe, on the other hand, shows all content from friends on a simple timeline. Furthermore, there are separate timelines for close friends and acquaintances.

The social network offers a wide range of functions, including; groups, pages, group conversations, one-to-one conversations, messages with expiration dates, camera filters and effects, a gif maker, video and voice calls, video messages and more. MeWe is free, but it makes money by offering additional features to paid subscribers.

Alternative to Instagram: Pinterest

Instagram has few alternatives that are both successful and privacy-friendly. BeReal is a new player that bets on real photos, but much less on privacy. An app that can replace Instagram for some users is Pinterest. It is the ideal app for those who mainly use Instagram to gain inspiration and to collect fun images and ideas. Pinterest isn’t going to tell you anything about Britney Spears’ latest splurges—don’t worry, we’ll leave her alone.

The fact that the focus is less on people and social interaction makes Pinterest a more privacy-conscious choice. The app is also separate from Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. You can also hide your boards with photos on Pinterest, but the app still has ads and it has integrated shopping services. A privacy-friendly Instagram alternative with more social functions is PixelFed, but that social network is still in its infancy.

Alternatives to WhatsApp: Signal or Telegram

If you want to use an app other than WhatsApp, you have a very good alternative to Signal. The developers of this app are also the creators of the Signal protocol for end-to-end encryption, which many other apps use.

One of them is WhatsApp, only this app has modified its encryption system without making the changes public. WhatsApp also collects more data from users, while Signal only uses data for the operation of the app. The messaging app also supports group calls, calling and video calling. Signal only makes money through donations.

Telegram is another alternative to WhatsApp, which is very rich in unique features. Larger groups are possible in this app than in WhatsApp, there is a system for channels and Telegram has more personalization features. Telegram’s code is also made open-source and the app monetizes through a new premium subscription. We’ll take a closer look at the most popular messaging apps in this comparison article.

Which social media app do you use the most? Are there any privacy-friendly alternatives that you have installed on your phone? Let us know in the comments.

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