12 More Promising Social Media Platforms to Distribute Your Content

Although not very visual, these social media platforms are, well, very social. Some of them might sound familiar to you, because they have been around for some time.

Many (but not all) are what the internet refers to as “microblogging” platforms, where you can only share consumable chunks of your content. Think short sentences, bite-sized images, and links to your blog posts. These are also known as microposts or micro posts.

Bite-sized posts are not exclusive to microblogging sites. Your major social networking sites also come with features for microblogging. The status updates you see on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ are examples of a micro post.

Always be mindful of each platform's terms and community guidelines during your use of the sites.

1. Twitter

Starting September last year the character limit for your posts were doubled to 280 characters. Twitter is now allowing tweets to say more in just one post. I tried to squeeze in as many shortened links as possible and was able to share 9 articles, two hashtags, an emoji, and a greeting, with some leg room between them. But once a message is posted you still can't edit anything.

2. Plurk

On Plurk you can share what you’re doing, links, images, videos, etc. as short messages. Only people with Plurk accounts can interact with your posts – they call them “plurks.” But you can adjust the setting so that everyone can find you on the platform. Up to 360 characters of text can fit a plurk.

I recently created an account with Plurk and cannot help but think about how porky the site is. The logo used seems to resemble the behind of a pig, or a fat cut from a pork – not sure which it is. Overall the platform looks cute but secretive.

3. Quora

With the recent addition of Spaces to the question-and-answer platform Quora, you can engage in topical discussions within communities. Quora is more of a knowledge platform for all-round citizens of the internet than a social media platforms, but it does cater to people’s need for blogging and sharing of content. Instead of likes, people will “up-vote” or “down-vote” your answers.

But there’s more things to do. You can translate an answer into a language (or languages) you are comfortable with, book mark an answer, and suggest edits. You can even participate in coding challenges to help improve the platform. Unlike other platforms, the change logs are easily accessible to everyone on Quora.

Also, instead of just one or two sentences with a question mark, you are now allowed to share your questions in the form of article links.

4. DeviantArt

Probably one of the liveliest social media platforms for creatives, DeviantArt or dA is where artists of all medium share their deviations. You can shop for art prints and sell your works, or critique other people’s deviations (on demand). Like most platforms, you can also share your status message.

As an artist or "a creative being," you can create art, draw with dA Muro, write a journal entry, create a print, create a Motion Book, and become watchers on the platform. Quite often, there will be contests for prize moneys, gifts, and win other perks, such as a core membership.

5. VKontakte

The physical attributes and features are very similar to Facebook, but VKontakte is a Russian platform. You can share micro posts of photos, videos, audios, and posters. You are also able to write your own articles to share across the platform's groups and with other online communities.

6. Taringa

Taringa is a Latin American social networking platform. Although you can write your posts in English and other foreign languages, most of the content you see will be from Spanish-speaking countries, such as Argentina, Spain, Colombia, Chile, Peru, and the US Latino community. You're free to create a long-form article and share your content to interest groups (called channels) across the platforms, but you are also free to share links, photos, short text messages, and videos.

7. Meetup

Meetup is a great exploration tool to help you do more of what you love and meet with like-minded people. Not only will you be able to find events that you can attend, you might even be able to take part in social movements or contribute to building a new community. Once you join a group, you’ll also have access to the group’s message board, where you can post and share links like you would in other online communities, join the mailing list, and vote in polls.

8. Saidit

The overall appearance of Saidit is set to intentionally remind you of Reddit, the platform it was based on. Your shares can be in the form of links or texts, just like on Reddit. Instead of the regular voting system, Saidit lets visitors decide whether a post is inspiring or funny. I’m usually pretty funny, but on Said It apparently I’m more of the inspiring type.

9. ReverbNation

A platform for artists, in particular musicians, Reverb Nation is a place to share your music to fans and industry curators. If you’re not a musician, you can create an account of one of the following types: fan, label, venue, and management. You’ll have the opportunity to share your songs, add information about your shows, share photos and videos, and status message. From your artist dashboard, you can track your song plays and connect with other opportunities, radio stations, festivals, curators, and increase your chances of finding a gig.

10. Meal Sharing

With this platform you can get social and host meals for people. To become a host, decide on a meal type and number of people. You don’t have to stick with the traditional dinners. Meal Sharing accommodates cooking classes, cocktail parties, desserts, fundraising meals, wine tasting, late night snack, food tour, supper club, and even delivery and pick-up. You can set the date, time, and type of dishes you are making, and make extra money from sharing your tasty cooking.

11. Xing

A career-oriented networking platform for a small-world network of professionals. It is a European site, so you will be able to interface using Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Turkish, and English. To support its members, the platform provides features such as groups, discussion forums, and event coordination. Event coordinators are Xing ambassadors, recruited for each city or region

12. Spreely

Spreely or speak freely is a social networking platform for "free people."The welcome page promises no shadow bans and no censorships. The overall look at first is a bit like Facebook, but in addition to groups and pages, Spreely caters to video content from the channel tab. You can source videos from YouTube, Vimeo, And Dailymotion, so it’s literally a whole new home for your video content curation.

Spreely is a very promising platform, with many practical features, such as tourism information, forums and advanced forums, and events. But only if you can get the right people to join and be active on the platform. Currently the discussions are mostly directed towards American politics and improving the platform to make it better.

Know anyone who needs to know about these social media platforms? Email them a link to this article, or share it with your followers to help spread the word.

☕ If this post was helpful to you in any way, consider leaving me a tip or buying me coffee.