Explained: What is Post.news, the emerging easy-to-use Twitter alternative

Elon Musk acquiring Twitter has led to disruptions in the online space. His management of the microblogging platform has piqued some users, making them look for alternatives. Mastodon, which is a decentralised, open source and distributed social network, emerged as an early alternative. However, its difficult to use interface has left people confused, making way for others to emerge. One such emerging platform is Post.new, which is set-up by Noam Bardin, former CEO of Waze and an ex-Google employee.

“Remember when social media was fun, introduced you to big ideas and cool people, and actually made you smarter? Remember when it didn’t waste your time and make you angry or sad? When you could disagree with someone without being threatened or insulted? We want to bring that back with Post,” wrote Bardin in an introductory blog he posted on Post.news. The platform promises “Real People, Real News, Civil Conversations.”

“Post will be a civil place to debate ideas; learn from experts, journalists, individual creators, and each other; converse freely; and have some fun,” wrote Bardin.

Like Twitter, users can write posts, comment, like, share, and repost content with their opinion on the Post.news. However, there is no word limit on the posts. Another differentiating factor for the Post.news is that it allows users to tip creators via integrated micro-payments. Besides, the platform allows users to buy individual articles from different news providers so they can have access to multiple perspectives, not just the ones they have subscribed to. Also, Post.news offers users to read content from various sources without jumping to different websites.

For content moderation, there are rules in place that the platform plans to enforce rigorously with the help of its community.

The Post.news is currently accepting sign-up applications. As of Wednesday morning, there is a long waitlist of 180,000 people, out of which 20,000 are invited by other users. There are currently 16,000 active users on Post, said Bardin in a post that he tweeted on Twitter.

In the same post, Bardin wrote that users must carefully select their account handles, while signing up, as they will not be able to change it for a while, since the platform is understaffed. Further, he said that users must practice self-help by checking out the FAQ’s section, if they face any issue, because it will take several days for Post.news to address the issue raised through emails.

“The initial users set the tone, so we are prioritising people based on the date they have signed up, what they shared about themselves, content creators and content consumers, age, gender, etc. to make the platform as diverse as possible within our rules” tweeted Bardin.

How to join the waitlist

Anyone interested in joining Post can do so at Post.news. Click on the sign-up or ‘Join the Waitlist’ options, fill out the form, and submit to join the waitlist. Post.news is promising early access to those using a unique referral link provided at the time of sign-up to get five or more people to sign-up for the platform.