Create a private social space far from the madding crowd with help from these apps

Even before the recent TikTok bans and mental health concerns from the surgeon general, public attitudes toward social media have evolved. Many people are moving to online communities on less-populated networks like Nextdoor to get away from the overload of influencers, advertisers, data mining and political divisiveness that often dominate the larger mainstream platforms.

Facebook and other sites do offer the ability to make private groups. But if you’re looking for a change, you can set up your own personal ad-free space elsewhere. Here’s what you can do.