What social media to use in 2024?

I’ve spent the last few days analyzing social media to see what’s worth using nowadays. Here are my findings.

The Fall of a Giant

A few years ago, life on social media was simple. Everyone was on Twitter, and although the algorithm had its quirks, you could use an unofficial client like Tweetbot to block ads and avoid annoying users. If you wanted to share something with your family, you used Facebook, and all the influencers were siloed in Instagram.

Then, a certain individual bought Twitter, changed its name, fired 80% of the staff, and turned the town square into a troll den.

Overnight, alternatives like Instagram, Mastodon, and Bluesky started to look appealing.

The final nail in Twitter’s coffin came after the U.S. elections, where it was revealed that Elon Musk had used the platform to campaign for Trump:

• [EN] Elon Musk appears to have tweaked X’s algorithm to promote Trump, study claims
• [ES] Un estudio sugiere que Musk favoreció las cuentas pro Trump en X meses antes de las elecciones en EEUU

Media outlets, brands, and users are abandoning Twitter in droves, fleeing the toxic environment, misinformation, and lack of moderation:

• [EN] Which brands have quit X/Twitter? The Guardian says US election prompted it to ditch Musk’s site
• [EN] News Organizations Are Leaving Twitter. What About You?
• [ES] Medios, entidades y empresas abandonan X avivando el debate sobre la red social de Musk
• [EN] Why the Guardian is no longer posting on X
• [ES] ‘La Vanguardia’ dejará de publicar en X, convertida en una red de desinformación

Amid the chaos, a glimmer of hope shines in Bluesky, a social network that promises to fix Twitter’s flaws. Many users have placed their trust in it and joined Bluesky (Stats, User Counter).

But… are people really leaving Twitter? Is Bluesky the new town square? Are there any other interesting social networks?

What Social Network to Use in 2024?

Over the last few weeks, I’ve signed up for the major social networks (deliberately ignoring TikTok and its child exploitation issues) and tried to engage with each of them equally.

Here’s what I found:

• Twitter is, indeed, in decline. Stay away.
• Threads is VERY odd and doesn’t add much if you already use Instagram.
• Bluesky is growing rapidly, especially among tech-savvy users. It’s very likely to become as popular as Twitter.
• The other platforms have their audiences. While Facebook may feel outdated to some, it’s still the primary social network for many.

That said, should you jump to Bluesky?

Maybe it’s still too soon. Use the social network where your friends are, and where you don’t feel upset after spending time on it. I’ve found Bluesky quite enjoyable, but only after many of my contacts joined recently.

As for me, here’s my decision. I will:

• Abandon Twitter and Threads.
• Use Bluesky and Mastodon as my main social networks, with Mastodon serving as a backup I control.
• Use Instagram for personal topics since most of my contacts are there, and automatically share some posts to Facebook, where I have a lot of family.
• Continue using LinkedIn for professional matters.
• Use Reddit to participate in specific communities.

Want more details? Keep reading.

Social Media Analysis

Here’s a more detailed description of each social network:

I felt saddest on platforms where the algorithm is more intrusive and where there’s less moderation. On those networks, I saw fewer posts from friends and more from strangers discussing politics or other topics that made me upset.

Conversely, I had more interactions on platforms with less intrusive algorithms. After all, the posts you see are from your own contacts, making it feel natural to engage.

It’s no coincidence that the most welcoming platforms are decentralized.

Centralized vs. Decentralized Platforms

On centralized networks, a single entity (the creator) controls everything: the algorithm, moderation, ads, and apps for accessing content. Because users are locked into these platforms, their owners prioritize profit over user experience.

In contrast, decentralized platforms consist of multiple servers, each with its own communities and rules. Users can easily migrate between servers without losing their connections if they encounter ads or toxic environments. For this reason, the maintainers of official servers (mastodon.social for Mastodon and bsky.app for Bluesky) emphasize moderation, use non-invasive algorithms, and avoid adding ads.

🦤 Twitter

Algorithm: 🛑 Intrusive. The app always pulls you back to its algorithm.

Moderation: 🤷🏻‍♂️ Nonexistent. There’s misinformation, bots, and uneven enforcement of rules between conservative and progressive topics.

Surprises: A few years ago, my posts would get dozens of interactions. Now, they barely reach 10.

Verdict: 🧟 Twitter is a living dead. Run before it eats your brain.

ｆ Facebook

Algorithm: 🛑 Intrusive. There’s only one feed, controlled by the algorithm, mixing your contacts’ content with suggestions.

Moderation: ✅ Present. There is moderation, but misinformation is rampant, and decisions often lean conservatively.

Surprises: Many people still use Facebook, particularly those who are less tech-savvy or more conservative. It’s still very user-friendly.

Verdict: 🧓🏼 The social network for staying connected with family.

💼 LinkedIn

Algorithm: ✅ Balanced. It prioritizes content from your contacts.

Moderation: ✅ Present. There are annoying users occasionally.

Surprises: Posts have a long lifespan. The algorithm keeps showing your content to contacts weeks after you post it. Be careful, you might congratulate someone on a new job after they’ve already left it.

Verdict: 💼 The place to maintain professional relationships and advance your career.

📸 Instagram

Algorithm: ✅ Balanced. It prioritizes posts from your contacts and only shows suggestions after you’ve seen everything. However, there’s too much advertising.

Moderation: ✅ Present. Moderation exists, but misinformation persists, and decisions often lean conservatively.

Surprises: It’s the trendiest social network. Everyone is here, and people interact frequently with posts, especially with stories.

Verdict: 🤳🏼 The platform for lifestyle posts and sharing your daily life without overdoing it.

🐘 Mastodon

Algorithm: 💙 Unintrusive. By default, you only see posts from your contacts.

Moderation: 💙 Effective. Communities carefully monitor content. Users actively maintain healthy spaces, and admins meticulously manage moderation lists.

Surprises: While it’s not a mainstream network, there are active small communities, particularly in tech and LGBTQ+ spaces.

Verdict: 🏘️ The home of small communities. The platform where you have the most control over your data.

🦋 Bluesky

Algorithm: 💙 Unintrusive. With one click, you can view posts only from your contacts. You can subscribe to community-created algorithms (Art, cat photos, etc.).

Moderation: 💙 Effective. The official server has a strong moderation team, prioritizing the elimination of toxicity and misinformation. You can also subscribe to community-maintained moderation lists.

Surprises: Now that more people are joining, it feels a lot like the good old Twitter. I really missed having multi-person conversations in the threads.

Verdict: 🦋 Twitter circa 2011.

🧵 Threads

Algorithm: 🛑 Intrusive. The app hides your contacts’ feed and constantly redirects you to its algorithm. It barely shows posts from your contacts.

Moderation: ✅ Present. The same as Instagram and Facebook.

Surprises: When you bypass the algorithm, you realize some friends are using the platform. However, it’s full of people seeking attention with dumb questions (to get responses), erotic photos, or using city hashtags to meet others.

Verdict: 🤷🏻‍♂️ What is this? I don’t get it and won’t use it again.

👹 Reddit

Algorithm: ✅ Balanced. The app strikes a good balance between showing posts from communities you follow and others you might like.

Moderation: ✅ Present. Moderation is primarily handled by community admins, though Reddit has stripped them of many tools.

Surprises: This site is a troll nest. The network encourages anonymity, and many people take that in the most toxic way possible. Consequently, moderators tend to overreact, always expecting the worst from users.

Verdict: 🎨 The best place to find information about your hobbies and interests.

My Data

To wrap up, I’m sharing the data that informed my decisions.

As I mentioned earlier, I spent several weeks being as active as possible across all social networks. This experience provided the basis for my initial impressions.

Later, I selected 12 of the most significant posts from recent days and compared their interactions.

I admit that my methodology isn’t fully scientific, so I’m eager to hear about others’ experiences.

I carried out this experiment on three of my accounts:

• Capitangolo: My main account and the one where I am most active.
• OnTheNubs: The account for my tech podcast. Semi-professional with some promotional content but not fully corporate.
• Safetybits: My company’s account, primarily professional and entirely corporate.

The data is available on my Google Drive.

Capitangolo

Instagram was the clear winner, providing the most consistent engagement.

LinkedIn and Facebook are a roallercoaster: usually low interaction, but when the algorithm kicked in, engagement soared. Threads showed similar behavior but with less success.

Twitter, Mastodon, and Bluesky showed similar patterns at first glance. However, Twitter’s engagement seems suspiciously low given that I have 10 times more followers there than on the other two. Odd, isn’t it?

Even though Mastodon and Bluesky yielded fewer interactions, they were more fulfilling—coming from people I respect or sparking interesting conversations. I plan to continue using these two platforms.

Bluesky is still growing, increasingly delivering more interactions. It currently provides the highest engagement per follower.

Key Insights:

• Personal milestones, like an anniversary, perform best on Facebook and Instagram.
• Photos, generally, do very well on Instagram.
• Hashtags work particularly well on Mastodon. For example, comparing #CatsOfMastodon and #CatsOfBsky, the former proved more effective.
• Professional milestones, like my workshop retrospective, excel on LinkedIn.
• Posting quality content to the right Reddit community can result in excellent engagement.

OnTheNubs

As this and my Safetybits account have fewer followers, interactions largely depended on sharing posts from my main account.

There were no major differences between platforms for this account, except on Bluesky, where engagement was twice as high on average.

Safetybits

LinkedIn is the clear winner for professional content, followed by Bluesky.

Instagram was a surprise: corporate content presented from a personal angle performed exceptionally well.

In Summary

There is a shift happening in social networks, but it’s less drastic than it seems:

• [Change] Twitter is dead, and Bluesky is taking its place.
• [Same] Threads remains baffling to users.
• [Same] Mastodon still has a small but highly motivated community.
• [Same] Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Reddit remain active with distinct content styles.

Use the social network that makes you happy and connects you with your contacts—but always be mindful of how algorithms and moderation affect you.