Twitter has made headlines again after banning users from promoting other social media applications on the platform for free. It's the latest major change by the company since Elon Musk's $44bn takeover earlier this year.
On Sunday, Twitter said that it would be suspending anybody that tried to direct users to other social media services through links.
A list of Twitter alternatives were mentioned in the policy, with users speculating that the dramatic move was made to stop the people who from leaving the app since Musk became CEO. However, Twitter also said that their new policy will still “allow paid advertisement/promotion for any of the prohibited social media platforms.”
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Regarding the rules, Twitter said: "Specifically, we will remove accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms and content that contains links or usernames for the following platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post,”
But what are these Twitter alternatives like Truth Social, Tribel and Nostr and where did they come from?
Mastadon
A social network app that has been around since 2016. Mastodon rose to prominence when Elon Musk bought Twitter and users were looking for alternative.
The app is quite similar to Twitter in layout, however, it is made up of independent servers for specific themes, topics and interests. People can join servers, follow each other and have conversations.
Truth Social
Truth Social is a social media app created by the former US President, Donald Trump. The app which looks and functions a lot like Twitter was created by Trump after he was permanently suspended from Twitter.
Parler
Like Truth Social, Parler has been described as a 'right-leaning' social media network that caters to supporters of the Republican party in America. Another app that is a clone of Twitter, the network was set to be bought by Kanye 'Ye' West recently but plans fell apart.
Post
Post is funded by the CEO of the navigation app WAZE and was created another direct opponent to Twitter. Much like most of the apps on the list, the app is another Twitter clone appealing to people looking to migrate and promises a "a civil place to debate ideas."
Nostr
Nostr is another decentralised social network app that promotes itself by being 'censorship resistant'. The app runs without a central server and instead works by a 'client'.
Through this 'client' a user simply writes a post, which they sign with a private key and the post is sent to other servers where the content can be viewed.
Tribel
Tribel is described as a 'left-leaning' social media app which is owned by a group activists from the Democratic Party in the USA. Like Truth Social and Parler, the apps were created as direct alternatives to Twitter.
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