With greater than 2 billion customers, Instagram has emerged because the go-to various to conventional social media in addition to photograph and video sharing web sites like Fb, Imgur and others.
Nonetheless, some don’t like Instagram’s show-off tradition, brief kind movies, and the toxicity on the platform. A bunch of customers additionally say that Meta has bloated the app with a number of new options, making it extra complicated to make use of. In case you are uninterested in thoughts numbingly scrolling infinite Reels, Tales or posts on Instagram and are searching for some recent breath of air, listed here are 5 worthy options that provide a extra relaxed expertise.

Pixelfed
Pixelfed is what Instagram was nearly a decade in the past earlier than being taken over by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta. The app has a easy consumer interface mimicking Instagram with a photograph feed, however you don’t see any Tales, movies, algorithmic content material, Reels and even movies.
It is a federated app, which means it makes use of the identical expertise because the de-centralised social media community Mastodon. Whereas it does have an choice to begin afresh, if you’re feeling lazy, simply register along with your Mastodon account and you’re good to go.
Nonetheless, you’ll be lacking out on some photograph enhancing options Instagram has to supply and because the platform is fairly new, it’s nowhere near Meta’s social media app by way of userbase. Out there on each Android and iOS, the app is fairly naked bones and should have some bugs at this level because it’s nonetheless new, however the web site is fairly steady.
In an age the place most of us are hooked on Meta’s algorithmic random content material, Pixelfed has emerged as a recent breath of air. If you would like an app that serves as nothing extra however a platform for sharing pictures, ensure that to present this a strive.
Pinksky is a 3rd occasion photograph sharing app for Bluesky. (Picture Supply: Pinksky)
Pinksky
Instagram absolutely has tons of pictures, however a few of us together with me like photos shared on Threads and Bluesky. In case you are in the identical boat, Pinksky often is the one for you. Much like Threads and Bluesky, Pinksky is an instagram various based mostly on the ATProtocol community, which suggests you possibly can import your whole feed from Bluesky.
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Not like most social media platforms that require you to enroll, you possibly can register utilizing your Bluesky credentials, and the app will filter out all content material besides pictures and movies. And whereas Bluesky is but so as to add a Tales characteristic, Pinksky does allow you to share disappearing pictures and movies. Nonetheless, these posts will nonetheless be seen in your Bluesky account, so maintain that in thoughts.
Additionally, Pinksky permits you to create your customized feed, so that you solely see the content material you wish to and never some suggestions from random folks on the web. It’s accessible on Android and iOS in addition to the online.
Tumblr is without doubt one of the oldest running a blog/social media platform on the web. (Picture SourceL: Tumblr)
Tumblr
You’ll have by no means heard of or forgotten Tumblr, however the running a blog/social media web site continues to be round. Launched in 2007, the platform permits you to create a weblog the place you possibly can publish textual content based mostly content material, share pictures, memes, GIFs and movies.
Tumblr additionally permits you to customise the look of the web site with an intensive assortment of themes, fonts, colors and backgrounds. And whereas Tumblr has no ‘Tales’, it does let customers add tags like Instagram.
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Additionally, in contrast to Instagram, folks on Tumblr are fairly welcoming and supportive. In case you are searching for a platform that encourages creativity, has a supportive neighborhood, and don’t wish to do something with Meta, Tumblr is a superb place to begin posting, however the platform has no first occasion app for cell units. One other factor is that photos you add on Tumblr might be utilized by the corporate to coach AI, however you possibly can choose out of that.