Facebook was introduced to the world on February 4, 2004. It was the first social media platform that became immensely popular. Soon after, platforms like YouTube (2005), Twitter (2006), and Instagram (2010) began to redefine how we share, express, and discover content.
Over the years, these platforms have continued to dominate the social media landscape. However, new players are constantly emerging, and 2025 is set to offer many new platforms.
So, this year promises even more innovation, with immersive experiences and apps designed to cater to more specific micro-niche audiences. These new platforms will not only offer familiar features like likes, shares, follows, and comments but also address unique pain points, focusing on specialized interests, privacy concerns, or creative expression.
This shift is set to make an important impact on how we interact with others online.
11 Emerging Social Media Platforms Ready to Shape the World
There are many new social media platforms to watch in the coming years. We have added some popular platforms to the list below.
So, let’s check out emerging platforms for creators.
1. Threads:
This platform is commonly seen as a competitor to Twitter. It focuses on real-time and text-based interactions. The Instagram team built This new app to allow users to join public conversations. You can post text updates of up to 500 characters in Threads, so unlike other popular platforms, it doesn’t have a character limit. You can also create a 5-minute long video and share it.
Key Features of Threads:
- Auto Status: It automatically refreshes the user’s status depending on location and activity.
- Text Limit Updated: Threads focuses more on text-based content; thats why the platform allows posts with up to 500 characters.
- Cleaner Interface: Threads offer a clutter-free interface, taking the best things from the interface of Twitter and Instagram.
- Real-time Updates and Public Conversations: The emerging social media provide a space for real-time updates.
Release Date: 5 July 2023
2. Step: Your World:
Step social media app is perfect for creators looking to build a space around their niche and interests. The app is designed to help users who want to create a personalized space. Users can save and share pictures of all their favorite places worldwide and share them on the platform to help others find locations better.
With this brand-new social media platform, people can discover new ways to explore the world. It is like a personally curated map of the world.
Key Features of Step:
- Save Places Around the World: The app allows you to click and save all your favorite pictures on the app.
- Add Photos and Comments: You can add photos and comments to remember all the little details easily.
- Share Your Profile with Friends: Follow your friends and our culture curators to find new places, cities, regions, and cultures.
- New Categories to Filter the Map: Allows to filter the map with categories like eat, drink, shop, stay, culture, and health
Release Date: April 2021
3. Noplace:
Remember the early days of Myspace and Twitter? Noplace looks like a mashup of Twitter and Myspace for Gen Z. You can create a customized profile by changing colors and adding tags and backgrounds on Noplace. It is a new platform to find friends based on common interests. Moreover, the app provides two feeds: one is for global feeds, which anyone can see, and another is personalized, in which you can decide who can watch it.
Key Features of Noplace:
- Share Text-based Updates: Share text content with an inner circle or Global Feed
- Make a List of Top Friends: You can create a list of friends based on other app users.
- Create Group Chats: You can meet others who share similar interests and belong to the same group.
Release Date: 3 July 2024
4. Ten Ten:
This app is all about friendship. You can choose friends and share their secrets, moments, tears, and laughter. The app turns your phone into a live walkie-talkie with your best friends anytime and anywhere. It received around 6 million downloads in just 6 months of the release.
Key Features of Ten Ten:
- Voice messages: Friends can send voice messages to each other even if the recipient’s screen is locked.
- One-on-one conversations: The app allows one-on-one communication and group chats.
Release Date: September 2022
5. Bereal:
You can share a real glimpse into your life with those you care most about. It is also a photo-sharing app like Instagram, where you can post one unfiltered photo daily and show what you are doing in a day. It sends a random notification to alert you to share a post in 2 minutes. Around 3 million people have downloaded the app in the USA. The app is gaining popularity among younger users.
Key Features of Bereal:
- Authentic, unfiltered content: The app prompts users once a day to take a photo of unedited moments in real-time.
- Dual Camera Mode: The app uses both the front and back cameras to capture a snapshot of the user.
- No Filters of Editing: It doesn’t allow any filters and edits and ensures users share real-time daily posts.
Release Date: December 2019
6. Airchat:
This social media platform is an audio social network. It encourages users to focus on talking more than chatting. It-includes features from X and Clubhouse. It is ideal for creators who want to engage with their audience through live conversations, debates, or discussions. This app is emerging as an engaging atmosphere compared to text-based platforms.
Key Features of Airchat:
- Real-time audio conversations: Users can engage in live, real-time, voice-based discussions within groups.
- Customizable Audio Rooms: You can create and join audio rooms related to specific topics and interests
- Minimal Text Interaction: It focuses more on audio than text. You can enjoy a more personal and immersive experience than traditional chat-based apps.
Release Date: April 2024
7. Yik Yak:
The app allows you to connect with everyone at your college anonymously. Users can share messages called “Yaks,” to anyone within a five-mile radius. The app was once shut down but relaunched soon. Users can connect freely without revealing their identity using this location-based anonymous social media platform.
Key Features of Yik Yak:
- Anonymity: It allows users to share thoughts without revealing their identity.
- Yakarma: Users who post the most popular Yaks get rewards with Yakarma points.
- Geofencing: This feature prevents underage users from using the platform.
- Voting: You can upvote the Yaks you like and downvote those you don’t like. Users who receive the most upvotes get the “Hot” stream.
Release Date: August 2021
8. Jagat:
This is also a location-based social media platform that provides an engaging interface. It helps users find friends’ locations in real time. They also check their friends’ status and discover activities near their area. This social media platform is for those who like interest-based groups. So, you can remind your friends when their phones run out of battery or about a speeding ticket when they exceed 120/h
Key Features of Jagat:
- Immersive map to track location: Users can track the real-time location of other users.
- Upload your moments: This allows users to upload and share moments with friends and family members.
- In-app Messages: You can send messages to friends using the Jagat app.
- Mark Your Places: You can mark your favorite places on this app.
Release Date: March 2023
9. Substack Notes:
Substack Notes users can post short-form content on the app. It was built on top of a newsletter publishing platform with more than 35 million active subscriptions. The platform is all set to make its entry into the social media space. Users can share bite-sized updates, posts, and opinions informally.
Key Features of Substack Notes:
- Short Form Updates: It allows users to share brief, bite-sized posts, quickly engaging followers better.
- Audience Engagement: You can like, share, and comment and establish direct engagement with creators.
- Original Notes: You can create micro-posts perfect for observations, brainstorming, and quick tips from experts
Release Date: April 2023
10. Coverstar:
Coverstar claims to be a safe TikTok alternative. But you can’t send direct messages on this app because of safety reasons. It allows users to showcase their talents, share their music, and discover new creators and artists. You can connect with like-minded individuals and grow your followers.
Key Features of Coverstar:
- Positive community: The app is for making friends, so it doesn’t allow toxic behavior
- No Direct Messages: It allows no DMs. All the comments are public and monitored.
- Monitored Content: The platform continuously monitors the community to block dangerous content.
Release Date: March 2017
11. Lemon8:
Lemon8 is an emerging social media platform for those who want to build a lifestyle content community. You can post content, edit photos and videos, and discover innovative content. You can create content including fashion, beauty, and home decor for the Lemon8 app and connect with audiences through your visually appealing content.
Key Features of Lemon8:
- A Photo Carousel: It is a post with multiple swipeable photos.
- Shopping integration: Lemon8 provides seamless shopping integration with eCommerce sites.
- Turn captions into mini-narratives: You can go beyond basic descriptions on this app by thinking of your caption as a micro-blog.
Release Date: March 2020
How Can Emerging Social Media Platforms Help in Marketing?
If you are aware of which social media platform people are going to use in the near future, it helps to create better content marketing strategies. You can create content according to the platform and audience. You can use emerging social media apps for targeted marketing.
Explore below how these platforms can transform your marketing strategy.
- Most emerging platforms are for niche audiences and are effective for highly specific targeting for brands and marketers.
- Smaller and newer platforms provide genuine interactions. So you can create personal connections with your audience.
- If you adopt these platforms earlier than your competitors, it can provide your business with quicker visibility than your competitors.
- You can experiment with unique content strategies because most platforms have introduced many new features.
- Since these platforms are new, advertising will be cost-effective. You can utilize them to begin content marketing effectively with little investment.
Final Thought
Whether you are a creator or a marketer who wants to grow the business, emerging social media platforms can prove effective. This is because of the low competition on these platforms. You can also leverage new social media apps and use new features and services for an improved experience. In 2025, this new wave of innovation will provide more excitement, sleek features, niche-specific experiences, and new career opportunities for many creators.
So, are you ready to be part of tomorrow’s social media landscape?
