Tik Tok alternative worth checking out - Loops (federated, decentralized, no ads)
With all the ongoing issues relating to TikTok, I've been exploring some alternatives, and came across one that I think is genuinely worth knowing about:
Loops: https://joinloops.org/
Here's why it stood out to me:
It's decentralized. No single company or person owns or controls it. That means no sudden bans, no algorithm shifts driven by corporate profit motives, and no one entity can just pull the rug out from under your content.
It’s also federated. which means it’s part of the Fediverse (the same broader ecosystem as Mastodon, Pixelfed, Lemmy, PeerTube, etc). Because it uses the ActivityPub protocol, creators on Loops can interact with people across other federated platforms rather than being locked into one single app.
It's open-source and ad-free. The project is transparent about how it's built and funded through community sponsorships rather than ad revenue or data mining. Their whole mission is essentially "social media that serves creators, not advertisers."
The feature set is solid for a beta:
Short-form vertical video (very TikTok-style UX)
Following feed + a For You-style discovery feed
Hashtags, comments, likes, reposts
Works on both web and mobile
It's currently in "open beta", so it's still growing — but honestly, that also means it's a great time to get in early and help shape the community.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse
https://jointhefediverse.net/learn/?lang=en-us
