Well that was a fun bit of international political theater involving TikTok this last weekend.

For those of you out of the loop – On Saturday evening, a few hours before we were supposed to, we lost access to the app, TikTok. We all knew it was coming. For 2 years, the government has been threatening to shut things down in the US if TikTok didn’t sell to a US controlled/based entity. We were given a deadline of January 19th and if TikTok wasn’t sold, it would close down US operations.

TikTok didn’t sell and for about 12 hours, the app ceased operating within the United States.

Although brief, the shutdown did happen, and it was JARRING! We saw it coming and we all knew it wouldn’t be down that long, but we were still just stunned that it actually happened. TikTok went down.

I’m not writing this today to talk about the politics of what happened with TikTok, though. I’m here to talk about social media in general and what to do when situations like this happen…you know…for real.

You’ve probably heard the term, “nothing lasts forever.”
Things may last a lifetime, or things may burn out or fade away, but nothing lasts forever. This definitely goes for social media networks.

“Back in my day, we had Myspace and LiveJournal, and we liked it!” -Old Man Bob.

Now, LiveJournal is hardly used in the United States anymore and Myspace, although still kicking, is not the same Myspace we had back in the early 2000’s. We grew tired, got bored, and moved on from these social platforms to hip, new places like Facebook and Twitter!

When things change, we want change with it. Is this something you’re going to have to deal with constantly? Oh my, no. BUT! When it does happen, or when opportunities present themselves, I’d like you to be able to make a move.

We’re going to talk about some social media options that you can tap into as a way to expand your social engagement portfolio in case situations (like this last weekend) try to repeat themselves.

You’re probably already using places like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc. Let’s explore some other options that we don’t generally get a chance to cover with you. We’re not going to cover everything today, but we’re going to look at a nice chunk of Short-Form Text-Based Content Networks that you can explore and grow into if you want to expand your social offerings.

These are some places that are attempting to recapture what we all loved about Twitter back in the day. They’re places where you can connect directly with people or brands through posts and messages, a place where you can read the news, and places where you can engage in social conversation with other users about various topics.

Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels:

Bluesky
A modern take on the classic twitter model. Bluesky is a place where people like to engage in casual, lighthearted conversation. Sure, like any social network, you’ll get people standing on soapboxes yelling about one thing or another, but things on Bluesky are pretty calm, at the moment. You’re liable to encounter more people talking about their interests and hobbies than hot-button issues like some other platforms, which could be great if you’re on their as a business.
The network isn’t new, but it’s seen rapid expansion in the last few months as people looked to move on from X and Threads for various reasons. About the only real drawback to the platform is that they were having to adjust for the major shift in volume and users. I haven’t noticed any issues on the platform, but if there was the occasional issue or bug, I wouldn’t be shocked, but I also wouldn’t be mad about it.

Truth Social
One of the more social platforms on here, from what I’m told. …I’ll be completely honest, I have very little experience with this platform, personally, but I’ve heard good things about its “groups” tool where you can engage with people for the purpose of building or elevating your brand. I don’t generally use social media for personal purposes and I haven’t seen a ton of big brands flexing their TS profiles, so it was never really the first place you’d think to go as a place to promote your business. They do have the tools, though, and they do encourage businesses to build themselves up on the platform, but they are more focused, seemingly, on topic discussion at this time. I encourage you to check it out and see if there’s an opportunity for you and your brand, if you want.

X
Formerly Twitter, X set the standard for short-form content networks. Many companies still operate on X as part of their daily routines as they’ve got years of history and development on the platform. Most of the classic tools remain from the transition between Twitter and X, but somethings have switched over to a paid memberships and perks kind of system. This can make it tough to compete if you’re not going to pay-to-play on the platform and it’s one of the reasons why many folks moved on to other networks. Still, it’s a good place for discovery where businesses have thrived for years and you can still function on a free profile.

Threads
Threads is another outlet for Meta (Facebook and Instagram) but with a focus on the short-form content side of things, just like the other previously mentioned networks. Threads was the first place companies and individuals moved to when Twitter was in the process of changing to X. The environment was virtually the same, but you were connected to your other Meta-centric profiles, like Instagram, which offers your current community a multitude of engagement options for your brand. Threads has proven to be a good place for people and businesses to connect, but it’s also proven to be a place with no shortage of garbage engagement-bait from wannabe influencers and bots that can clog up a person’s social feed. Until this gets cleaned up a bit more, it can be a fun, but frustrating experience for someone acting in a professional capacity.

That about wraps up the major short-form content networks. Go out, expand your social offerings and let me know how things go. Next time, we’ll take a look at some more media-centric platforms you can get started with.

Are you using a different Twitter-like platform? Tell me about it and your experience on the platform thus far. Id love to hear about it.