I plan to end my Facebook account before January 19. I like the format and would like something similar in the Fediverse. Also, I need a good Facebook alternative I can show people when trying to convince them to leave Facebook.
So what is the best Facebook alternative as of 2025? Frendica, Diaspora or Pleroma? Or something new and promising?
What do you hope to gain from leaving one Facebook to join another Facebook? Break the addiction. Free yourself from needing this in your life.
A social media platform to keep up with friends/family, while arguable not great (for comparison reasons), it not at all the same as what Facebook is right now. Facebook is no longer what it was originally created to be, it is just a dopamine slow drip.
If you want to keep up with friends/family, you can do a chat group on any of the many messengers. Or even use an RCS/iMessage group. You don’t need a full-blown social media thingy for this.
Just don’t use Facebook. Get your friends contact information and text/call/meme directly with them or in groups. You’ll find it a much more encouraging and rewarding experience if you connect with people instead of let some big company tell you how to engage with your friends and family.
Edit: I did not expect this thread to be so controversial. I suspect a lot of people really are not ready to give up Facebook.
The problem is that Facebook isn’t just about keeping up with your friends and family. It’s an engagement platform designed to keep your attention by showing you memes and “news” and videos and ads that it knows you like. Most people have become addicted to this slow and steady stream of dopamine. You’re not going to get people off their crack addiction by substituting it with marijuana.
As these social platforms become more powerful, it’s up to each of us to personally find the strength to wean ourselves away from these platforms that once promised socialization but have quickly become little more than propaganda and influencing and ad-serving machines.
It’s great we’re seeing some alternatives but, aside from a small cohort, most people are not going to find the likes of Bluesky, Mastodon, or Lemmy engaging enough to give them that hit that they’re used to.
All hail the algorithm.
Personally, I used to be the early adopter who was on all these platforms well before most of the public heard about them. In recent years, I’ve either deleted or stopped using my social accounts (or have chosen to use less engaging ones, like Lemmy). This has given me more time to live a life.
Boredom is something I embrace. Rather than turning to a screen to occupy me; I’ll take a nap, make some tea, journal, go for a walk, do some cleaning, build something, practice something, read a book or comic. It’s not as dynamic, for sure, but I get to experience and learn more about myself instead of needlessly observing the lives of others. Boredom offers a renewed sense of self and humanity. Frankly, I’m afraid younger generations won’t know what benefits and beauty boredom has to offer.
