this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2025

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Open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp raise funds on Kickstarter | TechCrunch (techcrunch.com)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The developer behind Pixelfed, Loops, and Sup, open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, respectively, is now raising funds on Kickstarter to fuel the apps’ further development.

The trio is part of the growing open social web, also known as the fediverse, powered by the same ActivityPub protocol used by X alternative Mastodon. The latter saw increased signups and use after the company formerly known as Twitter sold to Elon Musk in October 2022 and during the X exodus that followed the U.S. presidential election.

In the months and years following that sale, open source and decentralized apps like Mastodon and Bluesky (which uses the newer AT Protocol), have continued to grow their user bases, as people sought alternatives to centralized social media apps controlled by billionaires like Musk and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg.

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Edit: Link to the kickstarter

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[–] [email protected] 63 points 6 days ago (26 children)

WhatsApp? Just use signal already!

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (6 children)

Centralized. Not good. Conversations is on fdroid and is decentralized, federated, open source and uses a mature and battle tested protocol (XMPP). If I wanted something new, I would prefer Matrix over Signal.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 days ago (3 children)

People act like we need an alternative to Whatsapp but XMPP/Jabber exists and is much older.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

what happened to pidgin

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Pidgin is a client, not a specific protocol.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 days ago (4 children)

Why are there so many downvotes? Dude said the truth. Signal, like whatsapp, is a single point of failure. It can be enshittified just like whatsapp.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago (5 children)

It's not really a whatsapp alternative. More like a facebook messenger alternative. It replaces and encrypts dms from mastodon, pixelfed, lemmy, etc

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 days ago (5 children)

Signal? Just use matrix already!

[–] [email protected] 21 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Unable to decrypt message

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago

Matrix? Just use telepathy already! /s

I prefer Matrix over Signal because it required personal numbers.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Simplex is a much closer alternative

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago

I tried using it with a friend, and it completely nuked my phone's battery, while my friend's phone silently killed it (likely for using too much battery). I understand that truly privacy-respecting messengers will always use slightly more power than apps that use the google notification thing, but simplex is just a complete power hog beyond any reasonable limit. Hopefully they fix it at some point, it seems like a pretty solid messenger otherwise, and their approach to privacy and anonymity is unparalleled, at least in theory.

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[–] [email protected] 44 points 6 days ago

Stuff like this is a major, major component of dealing with nazis.

And even after they're dealt with, it's a better way of doing things, anyway. If it's a company, you're not on their social media platform, as much as you can possibly manage.

Which is a lot.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I'm all for fediverse.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 days ago

Let's hope this helps dansup get past the recent unpleasantness and he can delegate more. His output is amazing but burnout is a concern.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

What is Sup ?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Not too much. Sup with you?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

😂😂 Nice one Anyways, what is this "Sup" that people keep talking about ? Is it another federated platform ?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago

Thanks for being a good sport. In these trying times we have to cherish every genuine updog moment we find ourselves in.

It's federated encrypted messaging :)

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