We are spoiled for choice with the number of online entertainment platforms available to keep us busy. In the early days of streaming entertainment, there weren’t very many options because no one was sure that they’d be a success. The last 20 years have shown just how successful they can be, and now it seems like everyone wants to launch their own platform!
It’s impossible to subscribe to every streaming platform or to engage with every social media app. There is just so much great content being created. Here are our suggestions for the top online entertainment platforms to try in 2024. They include some old favourites and some exciting newcomers.
Online betting sites
Most people nowadays are familiar with online sports betting. It’s a hobby that has swept the world and keeps growing in popularity. That doesn’t mean it’s the only kind of betting in town, though! There are other creative ways that people can place bets, even if they aren’t interested in sports.
Novelty betting sites are attracting attention as online entertainment platforms and 2024 is a great time to get in on the action early. Oscars betting was very popular last month and Eurovision betting is starting to heat up.
One of the more creative new types of betting online is fixed odds lotto betting. People around the world can now place bets on what numbers will come up in major draws such as the US Mega Millions. This lets anyone participate in the excitement of a big lotto, even from a distance.
Video streaming sites
Watching videos online remains one of the top ways that people spend their time online. The subscription streaming model has reached a point where it has started to become a problem – to watch everything you want to, it seems like you need to subscribe to four or five services.
Sometimes the original platform is the best, and when it comes to streaming television and movies, Netflix is still the classic option. With so much competition, it has had to improve its offerings to stay on top and that has benefited its customers.
Niche streaming sites are also appealing because they’re limited to what you’re looking for. Crunchyroll is the destination for anime fans, especially since for many shows, you can choose between subtitled or dubbed. Shudder is perfect for horror fans, Criterion and Curzon for art cinema, and Disney+ provides quality entertainment for all ages.
Gaming platforms
Video games have had a bit of a renaissance in the last decade because the stereotypes about who plays video games have started to fade. With more people from diverse demographics playing, developers are coming up with new and more interesting types of games, and expanding the existing genres.
Steam has played a big part in this development because it is an online platform that allows indie developers to promote and sell their games to a wider audience. Since the site also includes reviews, game streams and a community element, it’s a great place for learning about games and identifying which indie games you’ll enjoy. It has made the best indie studios competitive with AAA studios.
Game subscription services are also a new feature of the gaming landscape and are attracting a lot of attention. Xbox Cloud Gaming and PlayStation Plus are the two big game streaming services, and both have impressive libraries to keep players entertained for ages.
Alongside playing games, many people now enjoy watching live gaming streams. Twitch is the best platform for watching game streams and it is incredibly easy to create an account with the site. Having an account also means that if you ever feel like jumping from watching content to making your own, it’s easy to do.
X alternatives
The changes made to Twitter since Elon Musk took over have had a consistently negative effect on the platform. While Twitter always had some issues, the lack of moderation and strange, profit-driven choices have made the platform, now known as X, an increasingly unpleasant place to be.
The social media area that Twitter/X used to dominate is now open to new companies. Each of these social media platforms is trying to establish themselves by creating a more tailored platform with an identity. Bluesky, for example, is decentralised and allows users to create their own communities within the platform. It has become very popular with artists and creatives. Threads is Meta’s Twitter-style platform, perfect for users who enjoy the familiarity of the brand. Mastodon and CounterSocial are two other top options.