Hold the phone! What's that, Twitter is down? Don't panic, I know its hard but it's not the end of the world. Twitter does this occasionally, more so than any other network. It's one of it's “quirks”. But what do you do when your beloved feed goes down and you feel completely left out of the loop? Luckily for you, this article looks at some great Twitter alternatives that can help you reconnect whilst the Fail Whale lingers.
Chime.In
Chime.In is a relatively new social network,just uder a year old and is a creation by Ubermedia. It resembles both Facebook and Twitter in a newsfeed timeline mashup layout to look at which makes it a great option for when your feeds are down as it feels normal and safe. It's primary task is to allow you to connect with people who like the same things you do. Like Twitter, it allows you to connect with people who may be talking and publishing things you want to know about. The great thing about Chime.In is that you can do more than just Chime, you can “like”, share and comment your replies (much like with Facebook) so you have plenty of communication available to you. This means that even if Twitter is having a tantrum, you can easily just login here and follow other interests and people so at east you are able to connect over the things you care most about!
Quora
Quora is the social network that has all the answers. Literally. It aims to help you answer any questions you may have about any subject and even allows you to connect with specialists in that area. Who knows, maybe you could meet a Twitter engineer in there and ask them what's gone wrong! But this social network doesn't just end with questions and answers, you can post content of what you like and Quora then helps organise your topics and profiles with those who also share these passions. It's a great Twitter alternative for people who like to ask questions or help others or just share interests with others.
Google+
Google+ is a great Twitter alternative because it's arguably the third most popular social network behind Facebook 
and Twitter. Its popularity means that many of those you follow on Twitter could probably be found on here too meaning you never miss a beat even if Twitter is down. G+ allows you to share interests, posts and news across your feed so again, you have a layout you are familiar with on a great, and most importantly, a reliable social network. More to the point, news of Twitter can be found on here as the screen shot shows! When one network is down, you revert back to another you like and this is a great alternative of keeping up to date with your connections.
Plurk
Plurk is a fun loving, easy going soial network that simply allows you to send out mini updates about whatever you like, particularly about what's ging on in your life. In fact, their website sums it perfectly: “To chronicle the events of your always on, action-packed, storybook, semi-charmed kinda life.” Want a stream where you can essentially post mini blogs with ease and at the snap of a finger? Then this is the site for you! Plurk all day every day about whatever you like or whatever you are doing, it's a bit of fun!
FriendFeed
FriendFeed does exactly as it suggests, provides you with a news feed of your friends online activity and updates. With this neat little social network, you can customise your feeds, start conversations with online friends and share your news and interests. Subscribe to updates to people you are close to, whether it be work or socially and you are sure to always be on the ball about what's gong on with them in their lives! Your friends don't even need an account, you can make your FriendFeed public and share it via homepages and blogs. Perfect for those of you who like to keep others up to date.
KeyTake Away
We all love Twitter. Sometimes it's a little bit like having a spoilt child who has a hissy fit when its asked to do something, but we all have our bad traits. However, when it does slam the door to its bedroom and refuses to cooperate, there are fun, social, business based alternatives out there. Maybe if it see's you using a new toy, Twitter will come out and play again!
– Image source for Fail Whale: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ateliertoepfer/
I’ll be checking out chime.in and posting more on Google+
@GnosisArts Bet it caused a few problems for people. I’ll admit, I didn’t realise for a while.
@Nikki__Peters It was really jammed this morning
5 Alternatives For When Twitter Throws A Tantrum http://t.co/SMxNpUcm HT @jameshicks
Timely list! I’m a huge fan of Quora, and I do find myself browsing through it whenever Twitter is particularly quiet or slow.
newsmap.jp is also a great resource for gathering real-time news across the Social InterWeb
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[…] Also this week, Twitter went down for a few hours (meaning I freaked out for a few hours.) If you did too, you might need a different platform to use whenever Twitter has downtime. Nikki at TheTechSoup.net has just what you need: “5 Alternatives For When Twitter Throws A Tantrum.” […]