WT Social: What It Is and How to Use It

Everything you need to know about this Facebook alternative

By
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Freelance Contributor
  • University of Ontario
  • George Brown College
Elise Moreau is a writer that has covered social media, texting, messaging, and streaming for Lifewire. Her work has appeared on Techvibes, SlashGear, Lifehack and others.
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Updated on April 17, 2024

WT Social is a social network for people interested in discovering, sharing, and discussing the news.

The "WT" in its name stands for "WikiTribune," which used to be a standalone, wiki-based news platform created by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales. WikiTribune has since been turned into WT Social, bringing its original news aspect together with social sharing and discussion.

What Makes WT.Social Different From Other Social Networks

There are already lots of social networks out there, but WT Social stands out specifically for being focused on news stories—not the personal updates you're typically used to seeing on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and other social media.

Similar to Wikipedia, WT Social is entirely funded by donations and meant to be kept ad-free. The platform is designed to cater to its users first and foremost. Users are encouraged to donate if they believe the site adds value to their lives.

How WT Social Works

WT Social is made up of SubWikis, which are community discussion threads for certain topics. SubWikis are comparable to subreddits on Reddit.

Members of a SubWiki can join the discussion by sharing text, links and media. SubWiki posts can be up-voted (but not down-voted like on Reddit) and include comment sections for members to share their thoughts.

How to Sign up to Use WT Social

Navigate to https://wt.social/ in a web browser and fill out your information in the required field to create a free account.

A screenshot of WT Social.

At this time, there are no official mobile apps for WT Social.

Joining, Leaving and Creating SubWikis

As soon as you've created your account, you've automatically joined several SubWikis, shown on the "Onboarding" page. These include Fighting Misinformation, Long reads, News about the Internet, and Weird News.

You can select Leave on any of these SubWikis if you're not interested in any of them. You can also select Edit on each SubWiki, which allows you (and anyone else) to edit its description.

A screenshot of WT Social.

To find more SubWikis, simply scroll down to browse through more and select Join to join any of them. You can also use the search bar at the top to search for SubWikis, or create a new one by selecting the hamburger menu > Add New SubWiki.

You can leave and edit the description of SubWikis from within the SubWiki itself by looking for these options in the right column of any SubWiki page. You can also select the Add New SubWiki at the top of any SubWiki page.

Participating in SubWikis

Use the WYSIWYG editor at the top of any SubWiki to create a new post. Posts are collaborative by default, which means any user will be able to edit your post. If you want to restrict editing, select the Individual checkbox so only you can edit it.

A screenshot of WT Social.

On SubWiki pages, you can tell Collaborative posts from Individual posts by looking for an edit button at the top of the post (or just beneath the link image preview). Those that have are Collaborative posts, while those that don't are Individual.

In addition to being able to select the up arrow button at the top of any post to vote it upwards, you can also do so for comments beneath posts. Alternatively, you can select Hide beneath any comment to make it easier to track the discussion. If you want to reply directly to a comment, select the Reply button beneath that comment.

If you want to invite people you know to join a SubWiki, you can do so by creating your very own group. In the top right of every SubWiki, create a group by naming it, then share its link to invite people to your group.

Using Your Feed and Creating Talk Posts

Your home page feed won't show recent posts from all the SubWikis you've joined, but rather "Talk" posts from friends. You might also notice Talk posts show up from WT Social creator Jimmy Wales and some other users.

Talk posts are posts that aren't meant to fit in any particular SubWiki. You can create a new Talk post from the WYSIWYG editor at the top of your home page.

Adding Friends and Customizing Your Profile

You can select Add Friend for any suggested friend on the left side of the home page feed. Alternatively, visit any user's profile by selecting their name, then select Add Friend beneath their name.

You can also add a profile photo and cover photo on your profile by selecting the hamburger menu > My Profile. Your posts, edits and comments will be listed here.

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