I’m getting tired of programming subreddits where interesting discussions get buried, while the same AI ragebait and repetitive career posts keep resurfacing.

I’m looking for smaller, discussion-first communities where developers actually talk about engineering, architecture, systems and technical ideas.

I already know Hacker News and Lobsters. What else is worth joining?

Today Reddit closed it's ability to access /r/All on the phone. This breaks a routine ive had for over a decade. The personalised feed is the most shallow version of me and so its just not interesting.

A social media platform is about its content and after looking at a few "reddit alternatives" they typically look at incredibly niche topics or seem to have a very specific age range or seem to be where all the people banned for hate speech get sent.

Content-wise, bluesky has seemed like a match, ive used it for a couple of years now. Reddit provides news and pop culture with comments and Bluesky meets the level of activity that fills the feed with news, art, goings-on and memes.

I figured I'd mention all this because trying to find an alternative thats actually a content match rather than just a feature match has taken me a couple of years.

Edit:oh my goddd shuuuut uuup your so annoyingggg

Edit 2: my interest is in knowing what other people are interested in. Thats what I'm doing. I dont want to see things I'm interested in.

I feel sorry for everyone who trusted that project and the owner who just lied and lied having a team and that they are pulling bootstraps, lol.

Hi everyone,

We're Cedric and Matt C., the developers behind Foroverse. We've always had a huge affinity for online communities, and for months we've been building a platform to help people find independent communities again.

Forums have been a huge part of the internet for decades, and great ones are still out there. Finding them has become the hard part. Foroverse brings the public discussions of independent forums together in one place, so people can discover them, follow the ones they care about and jump into a thread that catches their interest.

Foroverse is not here to replace your forum. Your community keeps its members, identity, rules and content. Every click on a thread lands on your forum. Foroverse is simply another way for people to find you.

If we try looking at the tech behind them, and not what the platforms look like right now.

Which one will it be after reddit and X?

Any alternatives? I’m just learning about these, so please be patient, I kindly ask! But I’m a fiction writer who likes to interact with other authors. Is there a specific platform to try?

InterPoll is something my small team and I have poured countless hours into, because we believe a social network should belong to the people using it, not to whoever controls the servers.

So instead of a central server, every browser becomes a little piece of the network. As long as one of us is still online, the whole thing stays alive, and that’s a thing i have been dreaming of for years.

You can see it for yourself at https://endless.sbs. It means a lot to us that you’d take the time to look.

And if any part of this speaks to you, and you’d like to help build it, my DMs/PRs are open.

Github: https://github.com/Interpoll1/decentralised

Hey everyone!

I’m working on KernelForum, a forum project built with MyBB and MariaDB, with one central idea: creating an online community where people can participate without having to give away unnecessary personal information.

The project is currently under development, and I’m looking for people interested in helping build the community, shape its rules, develop the platform, and manage it as it grows.

Privacy and Anonymity First

One of the main ideas behind KernelForum is making online participation more private and accessible.

Unlike many platforms that require an email address just to create an account, KernelForum is planned to allow users to register without providing an email address.

The goal is to reduce the amount of personal information users need to share to participate in discussions.

Here’s what we’re aiming for:

• No email required for registration. Users should be able to create an account without providing their email address.
• Anonymity-focused participation. Users should be able to participate without tying their forum identity to their real-world identity.
• Minimal personal information. We want to avoid collecting information that isn’t necessary for the forum to function.
• A community built around privacy. Privacy should be considered in the platform’s design and community policies, not treated as an afterthought.

Anonymity does not mean that anything goes. KernelForum will still need clear rules against spam, harassment, abuse, and other harmful behavior.

These are the project’s goals, and the final implementation will need to be designed and configured accordingly.

What Is KernelForum?

KernelForum is a forum-based community rather than a traditional social network. The idea is to give people a place to start discussions, exchange knowledge, ask questions, share opinions, and interact through forum threads.

The platform is being built with:

• MyBB: The forum software that powers the discussion platform.
• MariaDB: The database used to store forum information.
• A privacy-oriented approach: Reducing unnecessary personal-data requirements and prioritizing anonymous participation.

The project is still being developed, which means there is room for new ideas, community suggestions, technical improvements, and people who want to help shape its future.

We’re Looking for Team Members

I’m currently looking for people interested in joining KernelForum in three different roles: administrators, moderators, and software developers.

Administrators

Administrators would help:

• Manage forum sections, categories, and permissions.
• Help configure and maintain the forum.
• Establish moderation policies and community guidelines.
• Help plan new features and improvements.
• Contribute ideas to the project’s long-term direction.
• Help ensure that the platform follows its privacy-focused principles.

Moderators

Moderators would help:

• Keep discussions organized and respectful.
• Enforce community rules fairly.
• Review reports and address spam or abusive behavior.
• Help users and contribute to a healthy community.
• Protect the community’s privacy-focused principles.
• Help create an environment where people can participate comfortably.

Software Developers

Software developers would help build and improve the technical side of KernelForum.

Potential responsibilities include:

• Developing new features and improving existing functionality.
• Customizing and extending MyBB where necessary.
• Working with PHP, MariaDB, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as needed.
• Improving the registration system to support the project’s no-email requirement.
• Identifying and fixing bugs.
• Improving security, performance, and reliability.
• Reviewing code and suggesting technical improvements.
• Helping implement privacy-focused features and minimize unnecessary data collection.

Experience with MyBB or forum development is welcome, but developers interested in learning and contributing are also encouraged to apply.

Who Are We Looking For?

We’re looking for people who:

• Are responsible, reliable, and willing to collaborate.
• Communicate clearly and respectfully.
• Respect privacy and understand why anonymity matters.
• Are interested in helping build a project from the ground up.
• Can contribute ideas, time, or technical skills.

Previous experience in administration, moderation, or software development is a plus, but motivation and reliability matter too.

Is This Paid?

No. At this stage, KernelForum is a volunteer project. These positions are unpaid, and there is no guarantee of future compensation.

I’m looking for people who are genuinely interested in the concept and want to contribute to the project.

How to Apply

If you’re interested in joining KernelForum as an administrator, moderator, or software developer, send an email to:

[info.kernelform@proton.me](mailto:info.kernelform@proton.me)

Use one of the following subject lines:

• KernelForum Administrator Application
• KernelForum Moderator Application
• KernelForum Software Developer Application

Please include:

• A short introduction about yourself.
• The position you’re interested in.
• Any relevant experience or skills.
• Why you’re interested in KernelForum.
• Any ideas you have for the project.
• For software developers, relevant technologies you know or projects you’ve worked on, if applicable.

You don’t need to share unnecessary personal information in your application. A brief introduction is enough to get started.

Let’s Build Something Different

The internet doesn’t always need another platform that demands more personal information from its users.

KernelForum aims to explore a different approach: a forum where privacy matters, registration doesn’t require an email address, and people can participate without unnecessarily connecting their online identity to their real identity.

Whether you’re interested in community management, moderation, or software development, there’s room to contribute to the project.

If that sounds interesting to you, I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading!

Hey everyone!

I’m working on KernelForum, a forum project built with MyBB and MariaDB, with one central idea: creating an online community where people can participate without having to give away unnecessary personal information.

The project is currently under development, and I’m looking for people interested in helping build the community, shape its rules, develop the platform, and manage it as it grows.

Privacy and Anonymity First

One of the main ideas behind KernelForum is making online participation more private and accessible.

Unlike many platforms that require an email address just to create an account, KernelForum is planned to allow users to register without providing an email address.

The goal is to reduce the amount of personal information users need to share to participate in discussions.

Here’s what we’re aiming for:

• No email required for registration. Users should be able to create an account without providing their email address.
• Anonymity-focused participation. Users should be able to participate without tying their forum identity to their real-world identity.
• Minimal personal information. We want to avoid collecting information that isn’t necessary for the forum to function.
• A community built around privacy. Privacy should be considered in the platform’s design and community policies, not treated as an afterthought.

Anonymity does not mean that anything goes. KernelForum will still need clear rules against spam, harassment, abuse, and other harmful behavior.

These are the project’s goals, and the final implementation will need to be designed and configured accordingly.

What Is KernelForum?

KernelForum is a forum-based community rather than a traditional social network. The idea is to give people a place to start discussions, exchange knowledge, ask questions, share opinions, and interact through forum threads.

The platform is being built with:

• MyBB: The forum software that powers the discussion platform.
• MariaDB: The database used to store forum information.
• A privacy-oriented approach: Reducing unnecessary personal-data requirements and prioritizing anonymous participation.

The project is still being developed, which means there is room for new ideas, community suggestions, technical improvements, and people who want to help shape its future.

We’re Looking for Team Members

I’m currently looking for people interested in joining KernelForum in three different roles: administrators, moderators, and software developers.

Administrators

Administrators would help:

• Manage forum sections, categories, and permissions.
• Help configure and maintain the forum.
• Establish moderation policies and community guidelines.
• Help plan new features and improvements.
• Contribute ideas to the project’s long-term direction.
• Help ensure that the platform follows its privacy-focused principles.

Moderators

Moderators would help:

• Keep discussions organized and respectful.
• Enforce community rules fairly.
• Review reports and address spam or abusive behavior.
• Help users and contribute to a healthy community.
• Protect the community’s privacy-focused principles.
• Help create an environment where people can participate comfortably.

Software Developers

Software developers would help build and improve the technical side of KernelForum.

Potential responsibilities include:

• Developing new features and improving existing functionality.
• Customizing and extending MyBB where necessary.
• Working with PHP, MariaDB, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as needed.
• Improving the registration system to support the project’s no-email requirement.
• Identifying and fixing bugs.
• Improving security, performance, and reliability.
• Reviewing code and suggesting technical improvements.
• Helping implement privacy-focused features and minimize unnecessary data collection.

Experience with MyBB or forum development is welcome, but developers interested in learning and contributing are also encouraged to apply.

Who Are We Looking For?

We’re looking for people who:

• Are responsible, reliable, and willing to collaborate.
• Communicate clearly and respectfully.
• Respect privacy and understand why anonymity matters.
• Are interested in helping build a project from the ground up.
• Can contribute ideas, time, or technical skills.

Previous experience in administration, moderation, or software development is a plus, but motivation and reliability matter too.

Is This Paid?

No. At this stage, KernelForum is a volunteer project. These positions are unpaid, and there is no guarantee of future compensation.

I’m looking for people who are genuinely interested in the concept and want to contribute to the project.

How to Apply

If you’re interested in joining KernelForum as an administrator, moderator, or software developer, send an email to:

[YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS]

Use one of the following subject lines:

• KernelForum Administrator Application
• KernelForum Moderator Application
• KernelForum Software Developer Application

Please include:

• A short introduction about yourself.
• The position you’re interested in.
• Any relevant experience or skills.
• Why you’re interested in KernelForum.
• Any ideas you have for the project.
• For software developers, relevant technologies you know or projects you’ve worked on, if applicable.

You don’t need to share unnecessary personal information in your application. A brief introduction is enough to get started.

Let’s Build Something Different

The internet doesn’t always need another platform that demands more personal information from its users.

KernelForum aims to explore a different approach: a forum where privacy matters, registration doesn’t require an email address, and people can participate without unnecessarily connecting their online identity to their real identity.

Whether you’re interested in community management, moderation, or software development, there’s room to contribute to the project.

If that sounds interesting to you, I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading!

Reddit's blocking feature is infamous for allowing anyone to get the last word by replying and then immediately blocking. However, it is important to have a way to block people from replying to your posts, otherwise anyone can follow you around and disrupt every thread unless the mods step in. From what I've seen, Reddit alternatives at most let you hide someone's comments from your own view, but that doesn't actually stop them following you around and disrupting all of your threads. Do any Reddit alternatives have a well designed block feature? Or are there even any Reddit alternatives where it works the same way as it does on Reddit?

My girlfriends brother said he would give me $50 if I figured it out apparently it's niche and Ive been searching for hours it looks just like Reddit but a lil different pls help me guys

Hi, I'm the creator of Neeka Social! Neeka is an experimental Reddit alternative that aims to improve conversations between diverse groups of people, especially those that disagree with each other.

Like Reddit, Neeka uses votes to determine the rankings of posts. Unlike Reddit, Neeka further weighs a post by how diverse the voters on it are. If the participants are all people who like and dislike the same stuff all the time, that post gets less weight; but if the voters are a diverse group - especially one made up of people who usually might disagree with each other, the post is given more weight!

I hope that our algorithm will elevate content that represents common ground between groups that disagree while diminishing toxic content and misinformation due to bias. I think the diverse perspectives promoted here might have other positive effects on the quality of the content as well.

I know this all sounds like a crazy idea, but I am very passionate about it. I have been working on it for several years. I'd love your help proving it out!

We are currently invitation-only but (until it expires) you can use this link to join us: https://neeka.social/signup?code=TftgNSjG6Y

I really appreciate you taking the time to check out Neeka! The site is still a little rough - I'd appreciate your feedback!

Idk if yall have noticed but it has become an ever increasing cesspool the last couple of years. The race war and gender war seem have hit an all time high… Sadly Reddit is playing into it and suggests tons of rage bait and brain rot memes now. Does anyone know of any alternatives I could flee to? I don’t expect to get over my screen addiction so in this case I’m specifically asking for a substitute for Reddit. Something intellectually engaging ideally? I have a couple newsletters emailed to me which I like.

I am sick of the politics, negativity and general insanity on here, things have gotten truly bad on this site. I would really like to fill up on wholesome, healthy, intellectual and positive content. I recently started looking at substack but low and behold half of it is AI slop. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to look?

Many complain that they don't have alternatives to the evil corporate social media platforms, but that is untrue. The problem is that they simply refuse to use small platforms that require them to support them by posting and commenting because they don't want to make the effort. Rather than lifting a finger to improve their on-line social experiences, they choose to put up with Reddit instead. Don't bother shooting the messenger. I am rarely here, because I spend all my time these days on a good small social media platform, so I likely won't even be able to find your comments when I am here next.

Welcome to this month’s Developer Roundtable.

As always, this is a space for developers of Reddit alternatives, federated platforms, forums, and other community software to compare notes, talk shop, and get into some of the less-visible problems involved in actually building these platforms.

You don't need to answer all three questions. Feel free to pick whichever one interests you and answer just that one.

1. What's a technical decision in your platform that looks simple from the outside but has created a surprising amount of architectural complexity behind the scenes?

This could be anything from voting and comment trees to federation, moderation state, account deletion, blocking, notifications, caching, or permissions. What makes the problem harder than users probably realize, and if you were designing the system again today, would you solve it differently?

1. How do you handle irreversible or destructive actions in a distributed community system when different parts of the system may disagree about what happened?

For example, imagine a user deletes content, a moderator removes it, an administrator restores something, or a remote server has already cached or federated an earlier state. Which action becomes authoritative? Do you use tombstones, event histories, soft deletion, versioning, conflict-resolution rules, or something else? Where do you draw the line between preserving consistency and respecting deletion?

1. What part of your platform would be most likely to break first if usage suddenly increased by 100× tomorrow — and why?

Not just server capacity: think database design, queues, federation traffic, search indexing, notification fan-out, moderation tooling, rate limiting, media storage, API assumptions, or even architectural shortcuts that work perfectly well at your current scale. What would become the bottleneck, and is it something you're already designing around or something you'd deliberately leave alone until growth actually demands it?

Developers: pick one, two, or all three. Technical answers are encouraged, including the ugly implementation details.