Guide
Social Media Apps: A Plain List of the Big Ones
Apps for social media are the places people share posts, photos and videos with followers. This list covers six big ones, what each is for and how to pick the first one to use for your own work.
Photos, carousels, Reels and Stories. It suits food, fashion, travel, design and anything that looks good, and it is strong for small shops and creators.
YouTube
Long videos and Shorts, with a library that keeps being found long after posting. It suits tutorials, reviews and entertainment, and it asks the most time per post.
Facebook and Threads
Facebook suits local businesses, groups and Pages with an older audience. Threads is short text, built to feel like a conversation, and it is tied to your Instagram account.
X and LinkedIn
X is quick text, news and replies. LinkedIn is for work: jobs, advice and company news, and the feed rewards plain, useful writing.
Apps for social media: the newer platforms and the rest
A new social media platform appears every year or two. Most stay small, and a few grow, so wait until people you want to reach are using one before spending time there. Other apps, such as TikTok, Snapchat and Pinterest, are popular too. Dripost does not post to them, and no list of every app stays complete for long.
To start, pick the one app where your customers or audience already are, and post there steadily before you add a second.
Questions
What was the first social media platform?
Opinions differ. SixDegrees, which opened in 1997, is often named as the first site that looked like a modern social platform.
Which app should a small business start with?
The one where your customers are. Shops often start with Instagram or Facebook, B2B teams with LinkedIn, and teachers and makers with YouTube.
Can one tool post to several apps?
Yes. Dripost posts to Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, LinkedIn and X from one place, with a preview for each.
Post it with Dripost
- Schedule video everywhereAdd your video once; Dripost posts it as a Short, a Reel and a Page video.
- Client approvals, no loginClients see each post as it will look and approve it from a link.
- Post from Claude or ChatGPTDripost's MCP server lets your AI assistant schedule posts. You approve before anything goes out.