Beyond Instagram: Introducing the next generation of social apps

超越 Instagram：新一代社交应用登场

For years, our social media experiences have been dominated by Big Tech players like Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), Google (YouTube), Snapchat, TikTok, and X. But a growing number of startups are taking aim at these giants by building new, often smaller and more personal social networking experiences to connect people with friends, interests, and tighter-knit communities. 多年来，我们的社交媒体体验一直被科技巨头所主导，例如 Meta（Facebook、Instagram、WhatsApp）、Google（YouTube）、Snapchat、TikTok 和 X。但越来越多的初创公司正瞄准这些巨头，通过构建全新的、通常规模更小且更具个人色彩的社交网络体验，将人们与朋友、兴趣和联系更紧密的社区连接起来。

If you’re looking for a way to extricate yourself from the grip of traditional social media and Big Tech products in general, there are a number of interesting alternatives available. Many of them cater to Gen Z and younger, a group that’s often more willing to build their social networks within new spaces compared to people with well-established networks that sit on aging platforms. Below are some of our favorites, all of which are worth a download. 如果你正在寻找一种摆脱传统社交媒体和科技巨头产品束缚的方法，市面上已经有许多有趣的替代品可供选择。其中许多应用迎合了 Z 世代及更年轻群体的需求，相比那些在老旧平台上拥有稳固社交圈的人，这一群体往往更愿意在新的空间里建立自己的社交网络。以下是我们精选的一些应用，都非常值得下载。

Retro

Retro is a thoughtfully designed photo-sharing app focused on building connections with friends in a more private format. Created by two former Instagram team members, Nathan Sharp and Ryan Olson, the app offers simple ways to share photos with the people in your life who matter, as well as others that help you reconnect with your own memories. You can select certain photos to highlight every week, dump photos into albums, and find and follow others via search features. You also have your own user profile that includes privacy controls that allow you to choose which of your friends can see more than your most recent month’s worth of photos. Retro 是一款设计精巧的照片共享应用，专注于以更私密的方式建立与朋友之间的联系。该应用由前 Instagram 团队成员 Nathan Sharp 和 Ryan Olson 创建，提供了一种简单的方式与生命中重要的人分享照片，并帮助你重温自己的记忆。你可以每周精选照片进行展示，将照片归入相册，并通过搜索功能发现并关注他人。你还拥有个人资料页，其中包含隐私控制功能，允许你选择哪些朋友可以看到你最近一个月以前的照片。

Cosmos

Are you the creative type who’s sick of the AI slop on Pinterest? Another app, Cosmos, could offer an escape. Dubbed a “space for inspiration,” Cosmos allows you to search by color, keyword, or image, to shape a profile based on your taste. You can also follow friends and other tastemakers and collaborate with others on collections. Overall, the app is a bit more elevated than Pinterest, and it can also be used to shop for interesting products that match your style. 你是否是一位厌倦了 Pinterest 上 AI 生成内容的创意人士？另一款应用 Cosmos 或许能为你提供一个避风港。Cosmos 被称为“灵感空间”，允许你通过颜色、关键词或图像进行搜索，从而根据个人品味打造专属资料页。你还可以关注朋友和其他潮流引领者，并与他人协作整理收藏集。总的来说，这款应用的格调比 Pinterest 更高，还可以用来购买符合你风格的有趣产品。

Indigo

Looking to get off X but don’t know which decentralized social network to choose — Mastodon or Bluesky? Indigo’s app solves that problem by offering a single app where you can participate in both networks at once. The app offers a unified timeline and a composer that lets you cross-post to both services at once, access to your custom feeds, and tons of personalization tools and configuration settings. The app has some polish, having been co-created by Ben McCarthy, who also developed the Obscura line of apps and others, alongside freelance iOS designer Aaron Vegh. 想要离开 X 平台，却不知道该选择哪个去中心化社交网络——Mastodon 还是 Bluesky？Indigo 应用通过提供一个单一平台解决了这个问题，让你能够同时参与这两个网络。该应用提供统一的时间线和发布器，支持同时向两个服务发布内容，并提供自定义信息流访问权限以及大量的个性化工具和配置设置。这款应用打磨得相当出色，由曾开发 Obscura 系列应用的 Ben McCarthy 与自由 iOS 设计师 Aaron Vegh 共同打造。

Corner

Corner says it best, calling its app “Google Maps but social,” which is an apt description. The company has a growing community of some 125,000+ users who curate their favorite places both locally and abroad into lists that they can “gatekeep” or make public for others to discover. With a definite Gen Z vibe, this isn’t just a place to find “good restaurants near me,” but to uncover unique lists, like those focused on where you can find the best dumplings, queer nightlife, live jazz spots, places to dance that aren’t clubs, indie bookshops, and anything else you want to categorize, organize, and recommend. Corner 对自己的定位最为贴切，称其为“社交版 Google Maps”，这确实名副其实。该公司拥有超过 12.5 万名用户，他们将本地及海外的心仪地点整理成列表，既可以选择“私藏”，也可以公开供他人发现。这款应用充满了 Z 世代的氛围，它不仅能帮你找到“附近的好餐厅”，还能发掘独特的清单，比如哪里能吃到最好的饺子、酷儿夜生活场所、现场爵士乐吧、非夜店的跳舞场所、独立书店，以及任何你想分类、整理和推荐的内容。

Divine

If you’re still missing Vine (thanks a lot, Twitter), you’ll want to download the reboot called Divine. Enterprising developer Evan Henshaw-Plath, an early Twitter employee, imported the Vine archive into his team’s new app, which aims to offer a home for short-form video creators. The app hosts roughly 500,000 videos from nearly 100,000 original Vine creators and allows users to make their own six-second videos once again. Several early Vine creators have returned to the app, as well, like Lele Pons, JimmyHere, MightyDuck, and Jack and Jack, among others. 如果你还在怀念 Vine（真得“谢谢”Twitter），那么你一定要下载这个名为 Divine 的重启版应用。富有进取心的开发者、Twitter 早期员工 Evan Henshaw-Plath 将 Vine 的存档导入了他团队的新应用中，旨在为短视频创作者提供一个家。该应用托管了来自近 10 万名 Vine 原创作者的约 50 万个视频，并允许用户再次制作属于自己的 6 秒短视频。一些早期的 Vine 创作者也已回归该应用，例如 Lele Pons、JimmyHere、MightyDuck 和 Jack and Jack 等。

Mesh

While not exactly a social network in the sense that it’s a platform for connecting directly, Mesh is a helpful tool to throw into your lineup of networking apps. The app is something like an address book on steroids, as it lets you track what people in your network — personal, professional, and otherwise — have been up to, by tracking LinkedIn or X bio changes, posts, publications, and more. Plus, Mesh provides tools allowing you to reach out and reconnect on a cadence you configure, somewhat like a personal CRM. 虽然 Mesh 并不是严格意义上用于直接社交的平台，但它是一款非常实用的社交辅助工具。这款应用就像是“强化版”通讯录，它能让你通过追踪 LinkedIn 或 X 的个人简介变更、动态、发布内容等，来了解你社交圈（个人、职业或其他）中人们的近况。此外，Mesh 还提供了工具，让你能够按照自己设定的频率与人联系并重温关系，有点像个人 CRM（客户关系管理系统）。

Fable

Book club community app Fable recently got an upgrade that makes it worth another look, even if it’s not your main book tracker. The company is now offering a bundled service with digital reading subscription provider Everand (as they’re both owned by Scribd), which offers access to 1.5 million ebooks and audiobooks from the major publishers and more. Your ratings and reviews then sync over to Fable, where you can also see the recommendations from others and join virtual book clubs. 读书俱乐部社区应用 Fable 最近进行了升级，即使它不是你的主要阅读追踪工具，也值得再次关注。该公司现在与数字阅读订阅服务商 Everand 合作提供捆绑服务（两者均隶属于 Scribd），用户可以借此访问来自各大出版商的 150 万本电子书和有声读物。你的评分和评论会同步到 Fable，在那里你还可以查看他人的推荐并加入虚拟读书俱乐部。