Are You Quitting Facebook? Here Are the Best Facebook Alternatives to Use!
During the last couple of days, the Internet was flooded with new revelations surrounding our favorite social media network. The Cambridge Analytica scandal made us wonder how to protect our privacy on Facebook. Those willing to give up and delete their Facebook accounts have found themselves in an unknown territory. Can you quit Facebook without any consequence on your digital lives? Are there viable tools and services that can be great Facebook alternatives? Continue reading to learn more.
Facebook Alternatives: The Best Digital Substitutions
During the last decade or so, Facebook has become an integral part of our everyday lives. However, we all use it for different purposes. Some of you are using this network to stay in touch with friends and family. Others are using it as a messenger app and substitutions for texting, video, and audio calls. Then, there are those who like to read the latest news or organize events. As you can see, Facebook is quite powerful in terms of features that make our lives easier. However, this doesn’t mean that we can find a replacement.
We are going to provide numerous suggestions for different parts of this social networks. That is actually the only downside here – that you have to use several different tools from now on. However, this can be also good if you focus on one or two prominent Facebook features. So, let’s jump in.
News Feed
The first thing you see when you log into your Facebook account is your News feed. That’s a long list of Web links that your friends and other Facebook pages have shared. As such, it is a great way to check out what’s trending on the Web, and what your friends are talking about. However, news aggregators are not a new thing and there are some great Facebook alternatives for that.
First, we want you to take a look at Nuzzel. This is an online tool that lets you connect several social media networks and aggregate plenty of information on a single place. For example, you can integrate your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. Then, Nuzzel will present you the articles that your friends (as well as their friends) are talking about. There’s also a ‘Best of Nuzzel’ category where you can see trending stories on the Web.
There are also other great options. Digg is an old and very respected news aggregator. This website scans the Web for trending articles based on a wide range of topics. Those of you who use iOS devices can also rely on Apple News. Android users have Flipboard – one of the personal favorites of our editorial team.
Facebook Messenger
Many of you are using Facebook Messenger on your phones and tablets as a way to stay in touch with other people. However, you’ve probably noticed that this app has become cluttered with options that don’t really have any use. In addition, this is what’s draining your device’s battery. So, you’ll feel several benefits if you quit Facebook messenger.
One of the best Facebook alternatives, in terms of its Messenger feature, is Signal. This is a messaging app that comes free of charge and is approved by security experts. You can count on a tough encryption that makes it impossible for your conversations to leak. Even though it comes free of charge, it doesn’t have any ads or other annoyances. On top of this, there’s a desktop version of Signal, so you can easily sync your messages across a number of devices.
Many of you might think about switching to WhatsApp, which is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world. However, you need to know that Facebook owns WhatsApp. You’ll see marketing messages that your conversations are perfectly safe when using this app, but Facebook is still able to extract some metadata. Therefore, it’s best to avoid it.
Event Planning
We have to agree that Facebook brings an easy way to plan events, invite numerous individuals, and keep track of their response. You might be afraid that if you quit Facebook, you’ll stop receiving these invitations. However, let’s be honest here. If someone wants to invite you to an event, they will find a way to contact you, right?
Our recommendation is to use Paperless Post which is a perfect way to send out email invitations and keep track of RSVPs. The only downside is that you’ll have to collect email addresses of the individuals you want to invite. Still, this shouldn’t be hard if you put a little effort into it. In addition, there is a helpful tool called Doodle that allows you to find the best time for a group of people. For example, you want to schedule a meeting that works for a group of your employees.
Birthday Reminders
We shouldn’t forget about birthday reminders – which is one of Facebook’s most polarizing features. Some people love it, while others hate receiving a bunch of messages from strangers on their birthday. So, let’s make a compromise here. You can focus on your friends, relatives, and family and import their birthdays to the calendar service you’re already using.
To export this bit of data, you can click on Events on the left-hand side (once you’ve logged into Facebook). At the bottom of this page, you can export events to your calendar of choice. This includes Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, and Apple Calendar. If you click on ‘Learn More’, you will be taken to a detailed explanation on how to perform this action.
Marketplace
Two years ago, Facebook launched a feature called Marketplace that lets you buy and sell stuff from people in your community. Needless to say, you can find numerous online marketplaces where you can buy and sell items. One of those is an app named Nextdoor. You can use this app as one of Facebook alternatives for staying in the loop about what’s going on in your neighborhood. On top of that, Nextdoor has a section for local offerings where you can buy, sell or gift items.
Groups
One of the essential features of Facebook is Groups. You are probably a member of several groups that are created for different purposes. As such, they are a great way to stay informed about certain events or to exchange ideas with other individuals. However, this doesn’t mean that we can’t find numerous Facebook alternatives for this.
Our first suggestion is to use GroupMe to stay in touch with friends and family. This application helps you to create several group chats and organize them in more ways than one. The app works by creating a group of users who can share messages and photos. If you’re looking for something bigger, try Reddit. This website consists of hundreds of online communities surrounding various things. We are more than sure you’ll find a common interest with other Redditors.
Third-Party Logins
How many times you’ve decided to use your Facebook information to sign-up for a third-party service? The chances are that this happened a lot in the past. Even though this might sound like an easy thing to do, this can be quite dangerous. As the Cambridge Analytica scandal proved, these apps and services can take advantage of your personal information. Therefore, we advise you to use a dedicated password manager.
Password managers are the perfect Facebook alternatives when it comes to signing into third-party websites. Applications like 1Password and LastPass can store all your passwords and automatically fill out your credentials on various websites. On top of that, these can be used to create strong passwords that are impossible to steal or hack. This means that you’ll continue to sign in to websites with ease but you’ll actually improve your security.
Final Thoughts
The world doesn’t revolve around Facebook. There are numerous Facebook alternatives that are not only better but also much easier to use. You just have to make the initial effort to make the jump. From there on, it’s all smooth sailing.
Make sure to tell us about other Facebook alternatives in the comments section below. As always, feel free to share this article online if you know other people who want to quit Facebook. Thanks!