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Facebook alternatives: Social apps you need to try

If you are concerned about Facebook playing fast and loose with your personal data, here are a few other social networks you can try.
By Eileen Brown, Contributor
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1 of 14 Steemit

Steemit

Steemit is a blogging platform and community powered by blockchain and cryptocurrency. Content is written to the Steem blockchain, which stores the content in an immutable blockchain ledger, and rewards users for their contributions with digital tokens called STEEM.

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2 of 14 Ello

Ello

Ello is an ad-free social network for artists. It focuses on art, photography, fashion, and pop culture.

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3 of 14 Mastodon

Mastodon

Mastodon is an open-source decentralized social network. Users can log on to any Mastodon instance and communicate with anyone across the Mastodon fediverse in "Toots".

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4 of 14 Vero

Vero

Vero has a subscription model that keeps it advertising-free. Currently, it is offering free life access to its first million users.

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5 of 14 The8App

The8App

The8App enables you to share your posts across social networks, earn revenue from brand offers, and donate money to charity.

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6 of 14 Disapora

Disapora

Like Mastodon, Diaspora is a distributed social network that exists on independently run servers called "pods" all over the world. You choose which pod to register your user details and then connect with the rest of the community

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7 of 14 Mask

Mask

The Mask network is a peer-to-peer decentralized social trading network where content creators are rewarded for their upvoted or curated content.

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8 of 14 Minds

Minds

Minds is a community-owned social networking platform that rewards users for activity online. Users can set a monthly price for their fans to pay for exclusive content and services.

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9 of 14 Sphere

Sphere

Sphere is a decentralized social network that pays for the content users create. Users personal browsing and search engine results are privately secured and stored away from prying eyes of advertisers.

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10 of 14 Lbry

Lbry

LBRY is a free, open, and community-run digital marketplace. All data on the network is owned by its users.

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11 of 14 Busy

Busy

Non-profit organization Busy is an open-source social network and communication platform that includes free digital payments and a marketplace for goods and services.

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12 of 14 Xenzuu

Xenzuu

Xenzuu is a German-built, copycat Facebook site that pays users for recruiting other users to the network. It uses multi-level marketing to recruit and pay its downline users. Most content is in German.

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13 of 14 Sola

Sola

Sola is a decentralised social network. It does not require friends or followers for your post to gain a wide reach. Each post is sent to all nearby users who have the option to spread it further or discard it.

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14 of 14 Paymeabit

Paymeabit

Paymeabit is still in beta. It lets users post content and are tipped in 'bits' or small fractions of Bitcoin instead of receiving likes.

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