X Alternatives: Cohost Shuts Down, Mastodon Gets Revamps
X alternatives have been a large market in recent months, especially after the branding switch from Twitter. Cohost and Mastodon were two of the platforms floated as worthy replacements in the early days, but both have gone very different directions – Mastodon is seeing enough success to revamp its user features and web app UI from the ground up, while Cohost has run out of money completely. Currently, Cohost is in read-only mode, as the shutdown announcement states.
For Cohost, the issue was simply money. The platform had no way to earn revenue beyond Cohost Plus subscriptions, and was paying multiple members of staff. Currently, the remaining funds are being used to archive all data on the platform before it fully closes. The platform was founded with an anti-capitalist lean and a focus on “fear dealing and sustainable growth rather than market dominance“, but didn’t have enough stable profit to remain open past the end of 2024.
Meanwhile, Mastodon, the decentralized social media platform, has launched version 4.3 of its web app. This update introduces several user-friendly changes aimed at improving engagement and discovery – a carousel of “who to follow” suggestions with explanations for each profile, enhanced notifications, engagement summary, account previewing and following by hovering over their name, and a number of other functionality and design tweaks.
With these changes, Mastodon aims to provide a smoother and more engaging experience, particularly for those new to the platform. The updates reflect the platform’s focus on being the best competitor possible to other social sites, and it remains a viable alternative to X for users who want something new (or simply want to avoid X for their own personal reasons).