Twitter alternative: The best sites at a glance

Twitter is arguably the most popular microblogging platform, but has been discredited, among other things, in the wake of the NSA scandal. There are not many alternatives to the social network, but there are still some very promising. In this practical tip, we present an overview of the best Twitter alternatives.

Quitter.se: Extensive Twitter alternative without advertising

• Quitter.se is currently the best Twitter alternative. The platform is operated by a Swedish non-profit organization.
• Layout and handling are very similar to Twitter, but no advertising is used.
• Since the microblogging platform runs via GNU Social and thus represents a decentralized network, you can set up an account on one of the GNU Social servers or install the software yourself on your own server.
• The Twitter alternative is financed through donations.

Trsst.com: Particularly secure Twitter alternative under development

• Trsst.com primarily advertises anonymity, security and increased privacy.
• You can use the platform to communicate with other users and user groups in encrypted form. Data is only stored encrypted on the servers and you can register completely anonymously. In addition, according to the provider, freedom of expression is particularly protected.
• In order to use the Twitter alternative, you currently need to download a client for your computer. A standalone web version is being planned and can already be viewed as a preview.
• At the moment Trsst.com is still in the alpha phase. The project can be supported via Kickstarter.

GNU Social: The software for Twitter alternatives

• GNU Social is not a ready-made web alternative to Twitter in the sense, but rather a server software that is used for Quitter.se, among others. The project originally ran under the name StatusNet.
• If you have your own server, you can install the open-source, free software on it and thus open your own microblogging network.
• The software can be downloaded from the gnu.io homepage.