Software Spotlight: Element
Element is a new-aged chat platform that utilizes the Matrix open network which is created and governed by the Matrix(.org) foundation. It is an open standard with open source implementations, it is decentralized & real-time, it is end-to-end encrypted, and comes with the ability to bridge to many existing messaging platforms so you don't have to switch apps every time you talk to someone who is on a different platform. It has bridges built (at time of writing) for:
- Signal
- Mastodon
- RocketChat
- Mattermost
- Telegram
- Slack
- IRC
- XMPP
- Gitter
- Discord
- Google Hangouts
- and many others
Some more great benefits of using Element/Matrix is that you own and control your own data, it has cross-signed verification, and supports voice and video. Element doesn't mine your data, is not owned by a commercial entity, does not create vendor-lock in (quite the opposite), and has no usage limits. They even allow (and encourage) migration to or from their servers if you decide you want to go from a self hosted version to a hosted version and vice versa! It's super easy to get started, and the platform already has nearly 30M users at time of writing. Go check them out!