New social media channels – is there any potential to challenge tech giants?
People are currently talking a lot about the social media landscape and the range of platforms available. Will the tech giants be challenged by new platforms? Our Communications Lead, Noora, listed the new channels she has heard of on the internet and hallway conversations and found out what they are really like.
All images used in this article are from the Apple Store ‘s own app pages.
NOPLACE
noplace is described as a cross between Myspace and Twitter, aimed at Gen Z.
noplace is the creation of CEO Tiffany Zhong. Zhong was named on Forbes’ ’30 under 30‘ list in 2020 for her work on Zebra IQ. noplace is colourful and inviting, but it’s unusual in that you can’t post photos or videos. Users can follow their friends and see their posts, as well as customise their profile with visuals and interests. The app can be built to look the way you want, and the colourfulness is certainly intended to appeal to young people. noplace has a “wall” where you can post public messages to friends you have added.
BLUESKY
Bluesky is a social media platform similar to X in terms of functionality and interface. It was founded in 2019 by Jack Dorsey, then CEO of Twitter. Two years later, it became a standalone service. Owned by the US-based Bluesky Social PBC, Bluesky is open source, which means that the source code is publicly available. Among other things, this allows the code to be freely read, modified and shared.
FLASHES
Launched in addition to Bluesky, Flashes is an image-focused platform similar in functionality to Instagram but apparently more streamlined. The service was developed by a Berlin-based individual called Sebastian Vogelsang. Photos posted to the service will also appear on Bluesky and use its live messaging feature. Flashes will certainly have the advantage of a Bluesky user base which, at least in theory, can be easily steered towards using an image-based platform in addition to the text-based Bluesky. A release date has not yet been confirmed.
MASTODON
Have you heard of Fediverse? It is a decentralised social media network where different services can communicate with each other. In other words, it allows content published on different platforms to be consumed in one place, so users don’t have to jump between platforms. Fediverse brings all content together in one place.
Mastodon is one of Fediverse’s platforms, similar to Twitter and therefore a text-based platform. Mastodon is owned by Mastodon gGmbH, a German non-profit company that develops the Mastodon software. Mastodon started in 2016 as an open source project founded by Eugen Rochko. Rochko had been an avid Twitter user since 2008, but was unhappy with the state and direction of Twitter.
PIXELFED
Pixelfed is also part of the Fediverse. It’s an image-focused platform, you could say it’s the Fediverse equivalent of Meta’s Instagram. Daniel Supernault created Pixelfed in 2018. He still leads the development, but as it’s an open-source project, anyone can view the code, set up their own server or modify the software to suit their needs. Will there be any significant difference between the new Flashes and Pixelfed launched by Bluesky?
SUBSTACK
Substack is a nostalgic blast from the blogging days. The service is based on a longer text format that can be read directly from the service or subscribed to in a newsletter format. Substack was founded in 2017 by Chris Best, Hamish McKenzie and Jairaj Sethi. Substack is a private company. It will be interesting to see if there is a growing demand for “slower” platforms where people can immerse themselves in content in a nanosecond-cycled social media world. Annoyance seems to grow and accelerate year after year, and content that requires immersion can provide an interesting counterbalance. Some content may be behind a pay-per-content wall, which could open up commercial opportunities for influencers and content producers.
REDNOTE
RedNote (English translation of Xiǎohóngshū) is a Chinese community service and e-commerce platform founded in 2013. Xiaohongshū was founded by Miranda Qu and Charlwin Mao. From a Finnish perspective, the service looks like an alternative to TikTok, as they are very similar to each other. However, the service has also been described as a Chinese alternative to Instagram. The main differences between TikTok and RedNote seem to be the number of users and ownership – RedNote is owned by Xingyin, an information technology company based in Shanghai.
RedNote’s new US users have grown exponentially due to the unclear situation and future of TikTok.
Here are the new channels that have reached my ears over the last few weeks. What platforms are missing from the list? What’s your guess as to whether any of these platforms have the potential to challenge the tech giants? We believe that there is still a long way to go before any of them grow into a commercially potential channel in the Finnish market. However, we have been downloading apps on our phones for fun. It will be interesting to see how the channel mix develops over the coming years.