The hunt for the next Twitter: all the news about alternative social media platforms

It’s been more than two years since Elon Musk officially took over as the owner of Twitter — now X — and while a lot of platforms rushed in to try and be the next big microblogging service, many haven’t survived. Threads, Mastodon, and Bluesky have all proven to be viable alternatives, but places like Pebble (formerly T2) and Post News didn’t make it.

Threads is perhaps the likely successor, having reached 275 million monthly users as of October 2024, and it seems committed to fediverse integration by building features around the ActivityPub protocol. Bluesky, which relies on its own decentralized AT Protocol for social networking, continues to grow and saw a surge of users after the 2024 election, though with somewhere north of 14.5 million users, it’s still well behind Threads. Mastodon, which also uses the ActivityPub protocol, was already well-established by the time Musk bought Twitter but has struggled to grow its active user base.

There still isn’t a clear successor to Twitter. X hasn’t become the massive “everything app” that Musk says he wants it to be. But despite the success of Threads, continued existence of Mastodon, and the growth of Bluesky, X is still the place where many people and companies post things before they go anywhere else — at least, for now.

Here’s our coverage of the alternatives to X.

• Bluesky now has 30 million users.
• Bluesky adds a video tab to user profiles.
• NFL teams can’t use Bluesky
• Bluesky’s 2024 moderation report is out.
• Bluesky is getting a video-first app called Flashes.
• Free Our Feeds wants to build a social media ecosystem ‘resistant to billionaire influence’
• Bluesky adds Trending topics to its arsenal
• Bluesky now has a mentions tab in your notifications area
• Threads starts testing scheduled posts
• Fediverse creator payment platform sub.club is shutting down
• Instagram’s head says social media needs more context because of AI
• Threads takes an important baby step toward true fediverse integration
• Threads’ next update is a search feature that finds the post you’re looking for
• Bluesky won’t use your posts for AI training, but can it stop anyone else?
• Bluesky is working on addressing the EU’s DSA complaints.
• Threads says 35 million users signed up in November
• Threads is testing the option to choose your own default feed
• Bluesky is breaking the rules in the EU
• Threads.com shows something now.
• The Bluesky firehose, tunnelized.
• Twitter’s heir apparent isn’t X or Threads — it’s Bluesky
• Threads is overhauling its search and trending features
• Threads’ custom feeds are already rolling out
• Bluesky now has more than 20 million users.
• Mastodon is growing, too.
• Bluesky moves deeper into moderation hell.
• Here’s some cool stuff you can do with Bluesky
• Bluesky says it won’t train AI on your posts
• Bluesky’s quest to be the next Twitter
• Bluesky is having its “highest traffic day ever.”
• Stephen King is taking a stand.
• Bluesky apparently acted up today because of a cut fiber cable
• Threads grew by a Bluesky this month
• You can now use your itch.io URL as your username on Bluesky.
• Threads might get ads early next year
• Don Lemon says he’s leaving X.
• Bluesky crosses the 15 million user mark
• Bluesky is almost at 15 million users.
• One million people have joined Bluesky in the past week.
• Hello Bluesky.
• Bluesky adds 700,000 new users in a week
• Seems a lot of people are flocking to Bluesky.
• How to deactivate your X account
• Mastodon instance botsin.space is shutting down.
• The Verge’s favorite social networks
• A TikTok alternative called Loops is coming for the fediverse
• Bluesky says it won’t use blockchains even though it’s funded by Blockchain Capital.
• Bluesky is working on a subscription, but it won’t give you a blue check
• Threads can now show you when people in your feed are online
• Bluesky pitches new features at disgruntled Threads users
• Mastodon switches things up to make its app a little easier to use
• Meta appears to own Threads dot com now.
• Mozilla will shut down its Mastodon server on December 17th.
• Bluesky adds 8 million users in last ten months.
• You might start seeing Instagram comments on Threads soon
• How to cross-post your Threads posts to the fediverse
• Does Threads have the wrong vibe for the displaced Brazilian internet?
• Bluesky has gained a million new users in the last three days.
• Brazil’s X ban is sending lots of people to Bluesky
• Bluesky is getting video with its “next major app update.”
• Bluesky adds ‘anti-toxicity’ options to limit dogpiling and hostile quote posts
• Threads is giving Fleets a shot.
• Mike Masnick is joining Bluesky’s board of directors.
• Mastodon rolls out built-in bylines for journalists in the fediverse
• Bluesky will let you suggest “starter packs” of friends and feeds to follow.
• Meta is connecting Threads more deeply with the fediverse
• Bluesky now lets you send DMs
• Bluesky will let you control what you see on your Discover feed.
• What’s next for Bluesky?
• Bluesky confirms Jack Dorsey is no longer on its board
• Mastodon becomes a US nonprofit.
• Bluesky backs effort to make Mastodon apps compatible with its protocol.
• Newsletter platform Ghost adopts ActivityPub to ‘bring back the open web’
• Twitter alternative Post News is shutting down
• Bluesky lifted its ban on heads of state signups
• Canadians are asking their government to federate.
• President Biden is now posting into the fediverse
• April Fools’ 2024: Bluesky Shorts.
• Meta tests live scores on Threads, starting with NBA games.
• The “new” Threads desktop app is available for Windows PCs.
• Threads is getting ready for the fediverse.
• Bluesky starts letting users host their own servers
• Bluesky CEO says full hashtag support is coming.
• The fediverse, explained
• Bluesky is ready to open up
• Twitter alternative spouts a massive leak
• Threads is preparing to venture deeper into the fediverse.
• Threads: coming to the fediverse, slowly but surely.
• Twitter alternative Post just got some major upgrades.
• Bluesky hires its own moderators directly.
• A peek at the Threads / ActivityPub roadmap.
• The Ivory app for Mastodon swaps out its Search tab for Explore.
• Bluesky posts are finally open to the public
• Flipboard is pivoting to ActivityPub and the fediverse
• A new Threads feature might add a little color to holiday posts.
• Threads accounts will have to be public to show in the fediverse.
• Meta updates Threads link referrer so publishers can see where their traffic comes from.
• Is Threads signing a major free agent away from Elon Musk?
• The new Mammoth app is a much simpler take on Mastodon
• Bluesky is going to let people opt out of letting logged out users see their posts.
• Bluesky is rolling out some new safety tools.
• Joe Biden’s birthday gift to himself is a Threads account
• Twitter’s decentralized offshoot Bluesky now has 2 million users
• Mastodon’s latest update makes it easier to follow the news
• Threads third-party app support could become a reality
• Threads is adding polls and GIFs as it continues to chase X
• Another Pebble sinks to the bottom.
• Bluesky loves news, apparently.
• Threads is getting an edit button — and you don’t have to pay for it
• Artifact will let you generate images with AI for your posts
• It’s not just everyday users that seem to have cooled on Threads.
• Artifact is becoming Twitter, too
• Meta says Threads account deletion is coming this year.
• Mastodon gets better search, onboarding, and cross-server interactions
• T2 is now Pebble.
• Bluesky now has more than one million users.
• Meta may launch a Threads web version early this week
• Instagram’s Threads has lost almost 80 percent of its daily active Android users.
• BBC launches an ‘experimental’ Mastodon server
• Bluesky is replacing the “What’s Hot” feed with a “Discover” feed.
• Yes, the Threads desktop web site is coming.
• Threads is rolling out its Following feed
• Stanford researchers find Mastodon has a massive child abuse material problem
• TikTok is adding text posts
• What’s next for Threads
• Mastodon’s flagship server is down due to maintenance.
• Well, the Taliban wants you to know it endorses Twitter over Instagram’s Threads.
• Instagram Threads bosses Mark Zuckerberg and Adam Mosseri are just beside themselves.
• Twitter’s traffic is taking a dive, according to Cloudflare’s CEO.
• There’s a way to install Threads on Windows 11, if that’s important to you.
• Meanwhile, on Threads.
• Threads isn’t for news and politics, says Instagram’s boss
• On The Vergecast: It’s Threads all the way down.
• Google joins Threads, which now has over 70 million activated profiles.
• Threads has now activated over 50 million profiles.
• Instagram Threads launched, and my Mastodon server went offline.
• Here’s how Twitter’s leadership is responding to Instagram Threads.
• Mark Zuckerberg on when Instagram Threads will get ads.
• Just call them tweets
• Instagram’s Threads app already has over 30 million registered accounts.
• Mastodon CEO Eugen Rochko on what Threads means for the fediverse.
• What do you do if you’re trying to build a new Twitter without a billion-user headstart?
• Threads already has over 2 million users.
• Why Instagram is taking on Twitter with Threads
• The Instagram Threads launch countdown jumped forward and is now targeting 7PM ET
• Instagram’s Twitter competitor, Threads, briefly went live on the web
• Instagram Threads won’t be available in the EU at launch.
• Spill is another Twitter alternative that’s climbing up the App Store charts.
• How is Instagram’s Threads going to work, anyway?
• Instagram’s Twitter competitor launches July 6th
• One ticket to Threads please.
• A lot of people are checking out Mastodon.
• So where are we all supposed to go now?
• Bluesky reopens its doors.
• Bluesky temporarily halts sign-ups because so many people are joining from Twitter
• Instagram’s Twitter competitor, Threads, briefly showed up on Google Play
• Meta’s Twitter competitor, Threads, briefly showed up on the Google Play app store today.
• Who killed Google Reader?
• Decentralized Twitter alternative Bluesky has published a moderation manifesto.
• Mark Zuckerberg wants more fans?
• Flipboard made a custom feed in Bluesky.
• This is what Instagram’s upcoming Twitter competitor looks like
• This scientist’s posts got more proportional engagement on Mastodon than anywhere else.
• Bluesky now has more than 100,000 users.
• Bluesky rolls out feeds with custom algorithms
• The official Bluesky FAQ means well, but it’s not telling the truth.
• We found it, the unofficial theme song of Bluesky.
• This is Instagram’s new Twitter competitor
• Bluesky open sourced its app.
• Artifact is taking on Twitter and Substack by letting you follow writers
• Why does it feels like everybody’s on Bluesky? And is AI moving too fast for its own good?
• Please stop inviting heads of state to Bluesky
• On The Vergecast: all the butts on Bluesky, and all the worries about AI.
• Mozilla’s setting up shop on Mastodon and trying to reinvent content moderation
• Discord is growing up, so everyone needs to pick a new username
• Bluesky showed everyone’s ass
• How Bluesky should capitalize on its viral success
• It’s getting easier to make an account on Mastodon
• Bluesky is starting to feel like Twitter
• They’re ‘skeets’ now
• “This is our biggest single-day jump in new users that we’ve experienced.”
• Dril and AOC are now on Bluesky
• Bluesky, a decentralized Twitter alternative, is now on Android
• Bluesky’s CEO wants to build a Musk-proof, decentralized version of Twitter
• Bluesky is my favorite Twitter clone yet
• Is Substack Notes a ‘Twitter clone’? We asked CEO Chris Best
• Substack launches its Twitter-like Notes just days after Twitter throttled Substack links
• Hashtags are everything on Mastodon — why not give them a home?
• Canary in the emerald mine
• Substack is getting tweets — err, ‘Notes’
• Can Mastodon seize the moment from Twitter?
• Medium wants you to pay $5 a month to join its Mastodon server
• Twitter’s decentralized alternative Bluesky arrives as an invite-only iOS app
• Tweetbot’s creators added an edit button to their Mastodon client
• Cloudflare wants to help you set up your own Mastodon-compatible server in ‘minutes’
• Where are the good Android apps for Mastodon?
• Tweetbot’s devs are back with a Mastodon client
• Mastodon 101: how to follow (and unfollow) other accounts
• Where to find Verge staff on Mastodon
• More than two million users have flocked to Mastodon since Elon Musk took over Twitter
• Twitter abruptly bans all links to Instagram, Mastodon, and other competitors
• The race to build a better Twitter
• Bluesky built a decentralized protocol for Twitter — and is working on an app that uses it
• Twitter’s decentralized, open-source offshoot just released its first code
• Mastodon puts Trump’s social network on notice for improperly using its code
• Twitter’s decentralized social network project finally has a leader
• Mastodon now has an official iPhone app
• Twitter’s decentralized social network project takes a baby step forward
• How the biggest decentralized social network is dealing with its Nazi problem
• Twitter rival Mastodon isn’t safe from online mobs either
• What happened to Mastodon after its moment in the spotlight?
• A beginner’s guide to Mastodon, the hot new open-source Twitter clone
• Mastodon.social is an open-source Twitter competitor that’s growing like crazy