DEV Community: Public App

The Best Social Media Platforms in 2026 — Compared

Public App — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 08:25:55 +0000

Social media in 2026 is not one thing anymore. For some people it means short video. For others it means professional networking, group servers, anonymous forums, or a chronological feed without algorithm drama. And increasingly it means AI — characters to chat with, assistants that draft posts, and feeds built around generated content.

The giants still dominate by user count. But "biggest" and "best for you" are different questions.

We compared the landscape with one question in mind: what are you actually trying to fix?

Disclosure: We build Public (public.kim). This guide is written to help you pick the right platform — including honest cases where another app is the better fit.

How we evaluated these platforms

We looked at seven things that matter when you choose where to spend your online social life:

Human connection — DMs, groups, communities, and whether real relationships feel central
Content formats — posts, stories/status, short video, long-form publishing
Discovery — algorithmic feeds vs search vs topic-based communities
Creator tools — pages, analytics, monetization, and publishing depth
Privacy and control — data policies, moderation, portability, and who owns your audience
AI features — built-in characters, assistants, and generative tools (where relevant)
Mobile and web access — native apps, PWA, and cross-device consistency

Features, pricing, and policies change often. Treat the snapshots below as a starting point and verify on each platform before committing.

At a glance: 13 social platforms compared

Platform	Best for	Human social	AI built-in	Free tier	Mobile
Public.kim	All-in-one social + AI	Full network	Characters + agent	Core social + 20 AI msgs/day	Web, PWA, Android
Facebook	Family + local groups	Strong	Meta AI (limited)	Free (ad-supported)	iOS, Android
Instagram	Visual lifestyle + Reels	Strong	Meta AI (limited)	Free (ad-supported)	iOS, Android
X (Twitter)	Real-time public conversation	Moderate	Grok (paid tiers)	Free with limits	iOS, Android, web
TikTok	Short-form video discovery	Light	Creative AI tools	Free (ad-supported)	iOS, Android
LinkedIn	Professional networking	Career-focused	Writing assist	Free + Premium	iOS, Android, web
Reddit	Topic communities	Community-first	Limited	Free (ad-supported)	iOS, Android, web
YouTube	Long-form video + subs	Comments + Community	Limited	Free (ad-supported)	iOS, Android, web
Snapchat	Close friends + AR stories	Close-circle	My AI chatbot	Free (ad-supported)	iOS, Android
Threads	Lightweight text in Meta ecosystem	Moderate	Limited	Free	iOS, Android, web
Discord	Server communities + voice	Server-based	Clyde bot (limited)	Free + Nitro	iOS, Android, desktop
Pinterest	Visual search + planning	Light	GenAI tools	Free	iOS, Android, web
Bluesky	Decentralized chronological feed	Moderate	None notable	Free	iOS, Android, web

1. Public.kim — Best for all-in-one social life with AI built in

Verdict: If you want feed, friends, communities, creator tools, and AI characters in one account — Public is the pick the incumbents were never built to be.

Public is an all-in-one social network built around Connect, Create & Belong. Instead of juggling a feed app, a chat app, a character-AI silo, and separate tools for polls or productivity, Public brings everything into one place on web and Android.

Social features:

Personalized feed with Following and Discover tabs
Direct and group messaging with real people — unlimited on every plan
Communities with roles, shared feeds, and group chat
Pages for creators, brands, and public personas
Rich content: posts, 24-hour Status stories, Pulse short videos, long-form blogs, polls, quizzes, and Q&A
Explore and search for people, hashtags, characters, and trending topics

AI on Public:

AI Characters — community-created personas you browse, chat with, rate, and favorite. Import from Character.ai, SpicyChat, or Tavern Card PNGs.
Chat Personas — define who you are when roleplaying in character chats
Public AI — an agentic assistant that, with your confirmation, can create posts, polls, quizzes, follow users, join communities, send DMs, manage todos, start timers, and more
Voice chat on web for supported character conversations

Beyond social and AI: gamification (XP, streaks, missions, badges), group challenges, todos, time tools, and an end-to-end encrypted password vault.

Pros:

One app for feed, friends, communities, AI characters, and productivity
Unlimited human chat on every plan
Built-in Character.ai import — bring personas instead of rebuilding from scratch
Characters live in context — discoverable through Explore and your social graph, not trapped in a chat silo
Agentic Public AI helps you use the platform, not only talk to fictional characters

Cons:

Smaller user base than Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube — your friends may not be here yet
No native iOS app yet (web, PWA, and Android available)
Free tier: 20 AI character messages per day
Custom AI model settings require Creator or Pro plans

Pricing snapshot (verify at public.kim/pricing):

Free — Core social features; 20 AI character messages/day; 3 AI images/day; 1 character and 3 chat personas
Basic — ~$5/month — Higher limits, 10 characters, 200 AI messages/day
Creator — ~$10/month — Unlimited characters and personas; custom AI model settings; 1,000 AI messages/day
Pro — ~$20/month — Unlimited AI usage, verified badge, maximum creator limits

Public is for users 18 and older. Docs: docs.public.kim. Android: Google Play.

2. Facebook — Best for family networks and local groups

Verdict: If your social life still runs through relatives, neighborhood groups, and Marketplace, Facebook remains the default — even if the main feed feels noisy.

Facebook is still the largest general-purpose social network by monthly active users. Groups, Events, Marketplace, and Messenger keep it relevant for local community and cross-generational connection, even as younger users drift to video-first apps.

Pros: Massive existing social graph; strong Groups and Events; integrated Messenger; Marketplace for local buying/selling.

Cons: Algorithmic feed prioritizes engagement over chronology; ad density; declining organic reach for pages; privacy concerns linger for many users.

Pricing snapshot: Free (ad-supported). Optional paid boosts for pages and Marketplace listings.

3. Instagram — Best for visual lifestyle and Reels-first creators

Verdict: If your social life is photos, stories, and short video — and you care about aesthetics — Instagram is still the visual home base.

Instagram evolved from photo sharing into a Reels-heavy discovery engine. Stories, DMs, and creator monetization tools (subscriptions, badges, branded content) make it the go-to for influencers, artists, and lifestyle brands.

Pros: Polished visual UX; strong creator economy; DMs and Close Friends stories; cross-posting to Facebook/Meta ecosystem.

Cons: Algorithm-heavy; organic reach is hard without Reels; limited long-form publishing; not built for text-first or community governance.

Pricing snapshot: Free (ad-supported). Optional verification and creator tools vary by region.

4. X (Twitter) — Best for real-time public conversation

Verdict: If you follow breaking news, niche discourse, and public figures in real time, X is still unmatched — with trade-offs.

X (formerly Twitter) is a text-first public square optimized for speed: trending topics, live reactions, and direct access to journalists, politicians, and developers. Premium tiers unlock longer posts, reply prioritization, and Grok AI access.

Pros: Real-time information flow; strong for public networking and niche communities; lists and bookmarks for curation.

Cons: Algorithm and policy changes create instability; harassment moderation is inconsistent; limited rich media compared to video platforms; premium features behind paywall.

Pricing snapshot (verify on platform): Free with limits; Premium ~$8–16/month for expanded features and Grok.

5. TikTok — Best for short-form video discovery

Verdict: If you want to be entertained by an algorithm that knows you frighteningly well, TikTok is the category leader.

TikTok built the modern short-video loop: swipe, watch, repeat. For creators, it offers unmatched discovery potential — a new account can reach millions. For viewers, it is the default "I'm bored" app.

Pros: Best-in-class recommendation algorithm; creator-friendly discovery; built-in editing and effects; live streaming and shop features in many regions.

Cons: Not a full social network for friends (DMs exist but are secondary); regulatory uncertainty in some countries; limited long-form or text publishing; addictive-by-design feed.

Pricing snapshot: Free (ad-supported). Optional coin purchases and promoted posts.

6. LinkedIn — Best for professional networking and hiring

Verdict: If your goal is career growth, hiring, or B2B credibility, LinkedIn owns that lane.

LinkedIn is where resumes meet social feeds. Job listings, recruiter InMail, company pages, and thought-leadership posts make it essential for white-collar networking — even if the feed can feel performative.

Pros: Professional graph is unmatched; job search and recruiting tools; company pages and analytics; learning courses on Premium.

Cons: Not for personal social life; feed quality varies; aggressive upselling to Premium; limited creative formats.

Pricing snapshot (verify on platform): Free basic access; Premium Career ~$30/month; Premium Business ~$60/month (regional pricing varies).

7. Reddit — Best for topic communities and candid discussion

Verdict: If you care more about what you're into than who you know, Reddit's subreddit model still wins.

Reddit organizes the internet into thousands of topic communities (subreddits). Upvotes surface quality; anonymity encourages honest takes. It is the home of hobby deep-dives, AMAs, and niche advice — from programming to plants to politics.

Pros: Deep topic communities; strong search and archive; moderator tools; less pressure on personal branding.

Cons: UX can feel dated; moderation quality varies wildly; not ideal for close-friend social graphs; toxic corners exist.

Pricing snapshot: Free (ad-supported). Reddit Premium ~$6/month removes ads and adds perks.

8. YouTube — Best for long-form video and subscriptions

Verdict: If video is your medium and you want depth, subscribers, and monetization at scale, YouTube is still the king.

YouTube spans everything from 6-second Shorts to 3-hour documentaries. The subscription model (channels you follow), Community posts, and Partner Program revenue make it the most mature creator platform for video.

Pros: Largest video library; strong monetization for eligible creators; Shorts compete with TikTok; excellent search and SEO.

Cons: Not a general social network — comments and Community posts are secondary; hard to break through without consistency; algorithm favors watch time.

Pricing snapshot: Free (ad-supported). YouTube Premium ~$14/month removes ads and adds background play.

9. Snapchat — Best for ephemeral stories and close friends

Verdict: If your social circle is small, visual, and daily — and you like content that disappears — Snapchat still nails that vibe.

Snapchat pioneered ephemeral stories and remains strong with younger demographics. Snap Map, AR lenses, and Streaks gamify close-friend connection. My AI adds a chatbot layer, though it is not the product's center.

Pros: Private-by-default messaging; fun AR filters; strong for close-friend groups; Discover for media brands.

Cons: Poor for public broadcasting or creator growth; confusing UX for newcomers; limited web experience; not a general feed network.

Pricing snapshot: Free (ad-supported). Snapchat+ ~$4/month for extras.

10. Threads — Best for lightweight text in the Meta ecosystem

Verdict: If you want Twitter-like text posts but already live in Instagram's graph, Threads is the lowest-friction option.

Threads is Meta's text-first app, tightly linked to Instagram accounts. Posting is simple; your Instagram followers can follow you with minimal setup. Fediverse integration has expanded its reach beyond Meta's walled garden.

Pros: Easy onboarding from Instagram; clean text-first UI; growing Fediverse interoperability; no ads in early form (verify current state).

Cons: Feature set still thinner than X or Reddit; Meta data policies apply; limited creator monetization; dependent on Instagram identity.

Pricing snapshot: Free.

11. Discord — Best for server-based communities and voice

Verdict: If your community needs channels, voice chat, and always-on hangouts — especially for gaming, dev, or fandom — Discord is the standard.

Discord is organized around servers with text and voice channels. Roles, bots, and stage channels make it the backbone of gaming guilds, open-source projects, study groups, and creator fan servers.

Pros: Excellent voice and screen share; rich bot ecosystem; granular permissions; free tier is genuinely usable.

Cons: Not a public discovery feed — you join servers, not browse a timeline; can feel overwhelming; not designed for broad personal social networking.

Pricing snapshot: Free. Nitro ~$10/month for profile and upload perks.

12. Pinterest — Best for visual search and planning

Verdict: If you save ideas — recipes, outfits, home decor, wedding boards — rather than broadcast your life, Pinterest is the right tool.

Pinterest is a visual bookmarking and discovery engine. Users pin images to boards for later; the algorithm suggests similar ideas. It is closer to search-plus-mood-board than a traditional social feed.

Pros: Excellent for inspiration and planning; strong shopping integration; less social pressure than Instagram; long content shelf life for pins.

Cons: Weak for real-time conversation or friend networks; not a messaging-first platform; limited for text or video creators.

Pricing snapshot: Free (ad-supported). Business accounts for promoted pins.

13. Bluesky — Best for a decentralized, chronological feed

Verdict: If algorithm fatigue is your main frustration and you want a simpler, user-controlled timeline, Bluesky is the most approachable open-social option.

Bluesky grew out of Twitter's early decentralization research and runs on the AT Protocol. Custom feeds, handles, and a chronological home timeline appeal to users who want social without opaque ranking — plus the option to self-host data in the broader ecosystem over time.

Pros: User-controlled feeds; open protocol; less ad-driven than incumbents; growing developer and journalist presence.

Cons: Smaller user base than X; feature set still maturing; network effects mean fewer friends may be there; no built-in AI or rich creator toolkit.

Pricing snapshot: Free.

Which social platform should you pick?

Use this quick decision guide:

Your priority	Pick
One app for friends, feed, communities, AI, and creator tools	Public.kim
Import AI characters from Character.ai into a real social network	Public.kim
Family, local groups, and Marketplace	Facebook
Visual lifestyle, Reels, and influencer growth	Instagram
Real-time news and public discourse	X
Short video discovery and entertainment	TikTok
Jobs, hiring, and professional credibility	LinkedIn
Hobby communities and candid topic discussion	Reddit
Long-form video and subscriber revenue	YouTube
Close friends and ephemeral stories	Snapchat
Simple text posts tied to your Instagram graph	Threads
Server communities with voice (gaming, dev, fandom)	Discord
Visual inspiration, boards, and planning	Pinterest
Chronological feed and open-social protocol	Bluesky

No single platform wins every row. Facebook and Instagram win on raw reach. TikTok wins on video discovery. LinkedIn wins on careers. Discord wins on always-on community servers. Each trades something else away.

FAQ

Is there a free social network with AI built in?

Public.kim offers free core social features — feed, DMs, communities, pages, and more — with 20 AI character messages per day on the free tier. Snapchat has My AI; Meta apps have limited AI assistants; X offers Grok on paid tiers. None of the incumbents combine a full social graph with importable AI characters and an agentic platform assistant the way Public does.

Can I use more than one platform?

Absolutely — most people do. This guide helps you pick a primary home based on what you care about most. Many creators post on TikTok and YouTube, network on LinkedIn, and keep friends on Instagram or Public.

What if I want to leave algorithm-heavy feeds?

Try Bluesky for a chronological open-social experience, Reddit for topic-based browsing, or Discord for community-first hangouts. Public.kim offers both Following and Discover tabs so you can emphasize people you follow over exploration.

Is Public.kim only for AI users?

No. Public is a full social network first. AI characters, Chat Personas, and Public AI are integrated features — not the whole product. You can use Public purely for feed, messaging, communities, blogs, Pulse videos, polls, and productivity tools without ever opening a character chat.

The bottom line

The incumbent platforms earned their scale by going deep on one thing: Meta on photos and video, TikTok on algorithmic Shorts, LinkedIn on careers, Discord on servers, YouTube on long video. They are specialists at global reach.

Public.kim is built for a different problem: the silo. If you are tired of one app for friends, another for AI characters, and a third for polls or blogs, Public puts feed, human chat, communities, creator tools, and AI in one account.

That does not mean everyone should switch tomorrow. Your cousins are on Facebook. Your industry is on LinkedIn. Your fandom server lives on Discord. This list is about fit — not declaring a winner on user count.

But if you want a social network that treats AI as a feature inside real human life — not a replacement for it — Public.kim tops this list for a reason.

Ready to try it?

Get started free: public.kim/signup
Import an AI character: public.kim/characters/add
See pricing: public.kim/pricing
Read the docs: docs.public.kim
Download Android: Google Play — Public

Which platform did we miss for your use case? Drop it in the comments — we read them.

Building a Native Android Social App Where People and AI Characters Share the Same Chat Layer

Public App — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 09:30:17 +0000

Most AI chat products are companion-first: you open an app to talk to characters, and the rest of “social” is an afterthought — if it exists at all. Most social apps are the opposite: rich feeds and human DMs, with AI bolted on later as a novelty bot.

We wanted a third path.

Public is a social network where the feed, short video (Pulse), pages, and communities sit next to people chat and AI character chat — in the same Android app, behind the same realtime layer. Humans and characters both show up in the inbox. That product choice drove almost every architecture decision on native Android.

This post is a builder’s walkthrough of how we approached that on Android: Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, MVVM, and Socket.IO — and why AI replies do not stream token-by-token on the client.

Disclosure: We build Public (public.kim). The Android app is on Google Play as in.publicapp.android. Product help lives on docs.public.kim.

What we shipped (product context)

On Android, the bottom bar is the product skeleton:

Home — following / public feed, posts, notifications
Characters — discover, create, favorite AI characters
Pulse — short portrait video
Chats — human DMs, groups, and character threads in one place
Menu — pages, people, Public AI, vault, todos, settings, and the rest of the hub

Around that we added Google / email auth, App Links into public.kim URLs, FCM, personas (who you are when chatting with a character), optional inference settings on some plans, and on-device voice (STT + TTS) around the same character chat protocol.

The interesting engineering problem is not “draw another chat UI.” It is one transport, two chat protocols, one product feel.

Stack at a glance

Layer	Choice
Language	Kotlin
UI	Jetpack Compose + Material 3
Architecture	MVVM (`@HiltViewModel` + `StateFlow`)
DI	Hilt
REST	Retrofit + OkHttp (disk cache for GETs)
Realtime	Socket.IO (`websocket` + `polling`), auth token on connect
Local cache	Room (`public_cache.db`) — posts, conversations, messages, JSON blobs
Images / video	Coil, Media3 ExoPlayer
Auth / push	Firebase Auth, Google Sign-In / Credential Manager, FCM
Navigation	Navigation Compose — large `NavHost` from `MainActivity`

We kept a single Gradle module (:app). Packages split cleanly into data/, ui/, di/, plus cross-cutting bits for notifications, deep links, plans, and XP. For an app this size, one module keeps navigation and DI simple; we accept a larger :app in exchange for fewer wiring ceremony bugs.

Architecture: shared transport, divergent product paths

flowchart LR
  App[Android_Compose_App]
  REST[REST_API]
  Sock[Socket_IO]
  App --> REST
  App --> Sock
  Sock --> People[People_Chat]
  Sock --> AI[Character_Chat]

REST owns CRUD: profiles, feed pages, character definitions, conversation history bootstrap, media presigns, plans.
Socket.IO owns “something just happened”: human messages, unread, presence, character replies, image-generation start events, notifications, XP.

ViewModels stay thin coordinators. Repositories and socket sessions own I/O. Compose screens collect UI state. Classic Android MVVM — boring on purpose, because chat is where things get interesting.

Dual chat design

People chat

Human threads live behind a shared ChatSocketSession that:

Connects with the user token
Joins a user room (joinUserRoom) for unreads / presence
Joins / leaves conversation rooms when you open a thread
Fans receiveUserMessage into a SharedFlow so the open chat screen, chat list, and unread badge all see the same event

Sending is emit-then-optimistically-update: upload media via POST upload/media when needed, then emit("sendUserMessage", …).

That pattern is familiar if you have built any realtime messenger.

AI character chat

Character chat reuses the same SocketManager, but a different event pair:

Client → server: sendMessageToCharacterSocket with message, characterId, optional conversationId, optional personaId
Server → client: receiveFullMessageFromCharacterSocket with a full CharacterMessage

While we wait, the UI shows a typing / waiting state. The user’s message is added optimistically with a temporary id. When the full bot message arrives, we clear waiting, append the reply, and sync conversation metadata if this was a new thread.

A simplified shape of the client send path:

fun sendMessage(text: String) {
    val json = JSONObject().apply {
        put("message", text)
        put("characterId", characterId)
        put("conversationId", conversationId) // may be null on first message
        activePersonaId?.let { put("personaId", it) }
    }
    SocketManager.emit("sendMessageToCharacterSocket", json)
    isWaitingForAiResponse = true
    addOptimisticUserMessage(text)
}

And the receive side is intentionally not a token stream:

SocketManager.on("receiveFullMessageFromCharacterSocket") { data ->
    isWaitingForAiResponse = false
    val chatMessage = parseCharacterMessageFromSocket(data)
    addMessage(chatMessage)
    // bootstrap conversation id after first bot reply, reload history if needed
}

Why full messages instead of SSE / token streaming?

For v1 of the native client we prioritized:

One mental model with people chat — events deliver complete messages
Simpler markdown rendering — render a finished bubble once, not every half-token
Cleaner plan-limit / error handling — failure is a socket error, not a mid-stream abort
Voice mode — on-device STT feeds the same emit API; TTS speaks the full reply

We may add streaming later for latency perception. Today, typing UI + full reply is the contract.

Personas and inference settings

Character chat is not only “user ↔ bot.” Users can pick a persona (who they are in the scene). That personaId rides on the socket payload so the backend can condition the prompt without the Android client assembling prompt text.

On eligible plans, we also expose inference settings (model / temperature / tokens) as a sheet over the same conversation. That stays a REST-backed preference surface; the socket path still carries the message itself. Separating “how the model runs” from “what was said” kept ViewModels readable.

One `SocketManager`, many consumers

The thorniest realtime bug we hit was not JSON parsing. It was listener ownership.

Several screens can initialize or replace the socket. If character chat creates a new Socket.IO instance, people-chat listeners that were attached to the previous instance go silent — unread badges freeze, notification sockets die.

We solved it with a generation counter on the process-wide SocketManager:

object SocketManager {
    private var generation = 0

    fun initializeSocket(url: String, token: String) {
        // ... IO.Options with auth token, websocket + polling ...
        socket = IO.socket(url, options)
        generation++
    }

    fun generation(): Int = generation
}

ChatSocketSession.ensureConnected() compares attachedGeneration to SocketManager.generation(). On mismatch it tears off and reattaches receiveUserMessage, unread, group updates, and asks notification / XP coordinators to reattach too. Character features get a fresh socket when they need it; people chat stays live.

If you share one Socket.IO client across features, bake in reattach as a first-class protocol. Don’t assume listeners survive forever.

Supporting choices worth sharing

Room as cache-then-network. Conversations and messages observe Room first, then refresh from API / sockets. Schema changes use destructive migration today — acceptable while the product is moving fast; a real migration path comes when caches become user-critical.

Two upload paths. Feed posts: POST post/presign → direct PUT to object storage → POST post/add with keys. Chat attachments: multipart POST upload/media, then attach URLs on the socket send. Chat wanted fewer round-trips for small images; posts wanted large-file strength.

Compose navigation as product map. A large NavHost in MainActivity encodes auth, tabs, character profile/chat, Public AI, Pulse/Watch, vault, and deep links. The Menu tab is deliberately a hub of secondary destinations so the bottom bar stays five items humans can remember.

Voice is a shell, not a second chat stack. Android SpeechRecognizer + TextToSpeech, with barge-in while speaking, wraps the same sendMessageToCharacterSocket path. That kept web and Android protocol-aligned even when the voice UX is client-local.

i18n early. Roughly twenty locales and system-driven language keep the social surface usable outside English. UI consistency scripts and a small design-system doc keep Compose screens from drifting.

Lessons learned

Put AI next to people in navigation — if character threads live in a separate silo, the app feels like two products glued together, no matter how shared the backend is.
Shared Socket.IO needs a generation / reattach contract — multiple screens will reinvent the socket otherwise.
Full-message AI replies are a valid v1 — streaming is a UX upgrade, not a requirement for shipping character chat.
Personas belong on the wire — keep prompt assembly server-side; Android should send identity ids, not paragraph soup.
Optimistic UI works the same for bots and humans — temporary ids, typing state, reconcile when the canonical message arrives.
Single-module Compose apps still scale — until feature teams need hard boundaries, simpler DI beats premature multi-module charts.

What’s next (on our roadmap)

We’re iterating on latency perception for AI (streaming or chunked delivery), deeper Public AI agent actions on mobile with confirmable tool cards, and keeping the Chats tab honest as both human and character volume grows. The constraint stays the same: one social app, not a companion bolted onto a feed.

Try it

Web / PWA: public.kim
Android: Public on Google Play
Help docs: docs.public.kim

If you’re building AI into a social client, we hope the dual-protocol + shared socket pattern saves you a week of “why did unread die when I opened character chat?” debugging.

Questions or war stories about Socket.IO + Compose? Drop them in the comments — we read them.

The Structure of an HTML Tag

Public App — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 16:55:20 +0000

Hey guys, this is Bhanu Stark from Public App. Today we are going to talk about the structure of an HTML Tag.

In this post, you will find the answer of –
What is HTML tag?
What is HTML element?
What is opening tag?
What is closing tag?
What is self-closing tag?
What is an attribute?
How to know everything about an HTML element?
How to know about all the HTML elements?

Read full post here or watch video above-
The Structure of an HTML Tag