Parler — The Controversial Social Network

Posted byRenard MoreauPosted inPeople, Social MediaTags:, , , , ,
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Parler has stated that they are an unbiased social media network; one that is focused on real user experiences and engagement.

This controversial social media network is well-known for its large user base of Donald Trump supporters.

A lot of people who have been shadowbanned by Twitter for their political views have jumped on the Parler bandwagon.

Why?

Because Parler is a free speech-focused social media network.

A Brief History Of Parler

Parler was founded by John Matze Jr. and Jared Thomson in August 2018.

The name Parler was taken from a French word; which means, “To speak.”

The person who funds Parler is Rebekah Mercer ― a well-known American heiress and Republican political donor.

Google removed Parler from their Google Play Store on Friday the 8th of January 2021 because Parler’s services were used to plan the storming of the United States Capitol on Wednesday the 6th of January 2021.

Apple removed Parler from their App Store on Saturday the 9th of January 2021, due to Parler’s failure to provide a proper moderation plan.

Amazon also suspended Parler from their Amazon Web Services on Saturday the 9th of January 2021.

Parler was back online on Monday the 15th of February 2021.

This infamous free speech social media network is currently hosted by SkySilk Cloud Services ― a Los Angeles-based web infrastructure company.

My Past Posts Were Non-Existent On Parler

When I logged into my Parler account on Monday the 15th of February 2021, I noticed that all of my past posts (the ones that were posted before Parler was forced off of the internet) were missing.

Parler claimed that users will have their old posts back; they will be rolled out in phases.

My belief is that Parler had to scrub their servers of the offending content ― the ones that landed them in a whole lot of trouble (Well, it is better to be safe than sorry).

The Web Version Of Parler Has Improved Tremendously

I have only used the web version of Parler; I have never used the app version.

The web version of Parler was a bit buggy in the past (I was unable to log back into my account whenever I logged out of it the day before).

When Parler resurfaced online, I discovered that that the login issue had disappeared (I am proud to admit that logging back into my Parler account has become a figurative piece of cake).

Now, I am not afraid to log myself out of my Parler account, because I am quite confident of the fact, that I can always log myself back in.

I would like to thank Parler’s engineering staff for making it easier for users to log in to their accounts (They deserve a round of applause).

There Are All Types Of People On Parler

In spite of Parler being heavily saturated with political posts, it has:

  • People who are interested in matters pertaining to small businesses.
  • People who love and dabble with Linux.
  • People who are bloggers.
  • People who are interested in food and beverages.

Therefore, it would be wrong to stereotype the people who use Parler.

I actually found a forum online where participants claimed that they would like to troll all Parler users.

I joined Parler on Saturday the 25th of July 2020 and I have never posted anything of a political nature.

Why?

Because I have no interest in politics.

I prefer to share the links to my blog posts as well as the links to the blog posts of my fellow bloggers on Parler.

I use Parler in the same manner that I used Twitter in the past.

Parler Will Ban Certain Types Of People

It is no secret that all social media networks have rules.

Parler will place a ban on those people who:

  • Use their services to disseminate spam.
  • Use their services to promote terrorism.
  • Use their services to post unsolicited ads.
  • Use their services for the purpose of defamation.
  • Use their services to blackmail others.
  • Use their services for bribery.
  • Use their services to conduct criminal behaviour.

I am making an educated guess, that Parler will be using a team of human reviewers, combined with some form of artificial intelligence with the intention of making sure that the things that were mentioned above, never appear on their social media network.

Not Everyone Likes Parler

Some people dislike Parler because:

  • It is filled with hatred for those who are members of the Democratic Party.
  • Almost everything is politically-related.
  • It has a lot of conspiracy-related posts.
  • They cannot post pornography.
  • They have to provide Parler with their phone number in order to create an account with them.

Realistically speaking, there are people who hate other social media networks and they all have their various reasons for hating them.

As I have mentioned earlier in this post, “There are all types of people on Parler.”

So, do not be surprised if you come across a post from someone with strong Christian-based morals on Parler.

I Would Like To See Way More Diversity On Parler

Now, do not get me wrong, people are free to discuss things of a political nature on Parler.

However, it would be nice if I saw more posts that were in relation to:

  • Sports
  • Music
  • Fashion
  • Food
  • Parenting
  • History
  • Science
  • Health
  • Electronics
  • Software
  • Spirituality

I believe that if people came across those types of posts, they would find Parler more appealing.

Parler Is Still In Its Infancy

Parler made their debut in 2018.

What am I hinting at?

I am hinting, that Parler could be way different five or six years from now.

Parler could surprise the whole world by becoming a family-friendly social media network ― the type of social media network that people would not hesitate to recommend to others.

At the moment, there are lots of room for improvement.

Final Thoughts

There is a lot of censorship taking place online; if big tech or the current government dislikes your message, you can be silenced (Especially, if you have accounts on Facebook and Twitter).

Now, do not forget for one moment that you can also be banned by Parler for violating their Terms of Service.

One of the nice things about Parler is that you are granted way more freedom to share your political views (Which is something that other social media networks frown upon).

I want to reiterate the fact, that there are all sorts of people on Parler.

Therefore, not all posts are politically-related.

I will be keeping a close eye on Parler with the intention of finding out what it is going to evolve into in the future.

I also wish the owners of Parler along with their managerial staff and everyone on their social media network all of the best.

The last thing that I want is for Parler to be off of the internet again.

61 thoughts on “Parler — The Controversial Social Network”

  3. Hi Renard, I’m still on there and I believe it’s getting better. I’m waiting to see what Dan Bangino has to say about it as he was one of the investors in the company. He used to promote it a lot everywhere but hasn’t recently. He did say he would come out to talk about it soon. He hinted he may start another too. There are about 15 alternative social media sites out there today at my last count and I’m sure there are more.
    But MeWe and Parler seem to lead the pack at this time. I love seeing others on Parler that are not political so it can be a more well-rounded platform. I’ll be sharing this there Renard!

    Liked by 3 people

  4. That’s interesting that they require a valid phone number. That seems like it would make it easier for law enforcement to track people down with subpoenas if some of the political stuff got into not so legal territory.

    Liked by 2 people

  5. I didn’t join Parler when all my political friends were pushing it, and I still haven’t joined because:
    * It’s closed-source
    * It’s restricted to a single centralized server (just like Farcebook, Twitter, etc)
    * I prefer a federated option, peer-to-peer rather than depending on a single server
    I would choose a Mastodon instance rather than any single-server, closed-source option.

    Liked by 5 people

    2. Asking to fill out your phone number was also my reason not to join. I never joined facebook or twitter either.

      Like

  8. It will be interesting to see how the platforms continue to evolve, and thank you, Renard, for keeping us abreast of the developments.

    While the use of pre-paid phone numbers may limit the chances of illegal activity being so easily detected, there are plenty of other ways to monitor and deal with online activity, if the resources are allocated.

    One hopes that more cyber security resources will be allocated to monitor and prevent malicious use of all of these types of platforms.

    Stay safe,
    -Shira

    Liked by 3 people

      1. Thank you, Renard, for your work. And thank you for your Likes in support of my blog, which I hope contributes to the same work that your blog is doing.
        Stay safe,

        -Shira Destinie

        Liked by 3 people

  9. Thank you for this brave post (it is brave quite honestly). So many people are getting hung up on Trump and conspiracy theorists, but this is all just static, distraction from the real issue that Big Tech owns everything and can shut you down at a second’s notice. People don’t get that anyone can be called an extremist for anything. Just because these are private companies and not the government doesn’t make it better because there are so few alternatives to take your business elsewhere. Do people really want monopolies on who gets to decide what acceptable speech is? Because the shoe can be on the other foot anytime.

    Liked by 5 people

    1. 🙂 That is correct, Jackie. Gab does not ask for your phone number (I know that for a fact, because I used to have an account over on Gab).

      Thank you for reading and commenting!

      Liked by 1 person

  16. The one constant in the universe is change. 😉

    I’m certain it will evolve. The existing political climate there was created by heavy handed and over-reaching bans and shadowbans by Facebook and Twitter. You can’t label everyone to the right of Trotsky as a Fascist and terrorist, LOL. Hopefully as wounds heal, things will calm down.

    The irony to all of it, is that all it takes to fix ANY social media platform is a uniform enforcement of the rule “you can attack the idea, but not the speaker”. It’s more moderation than they’re willing to do however. Bots are easier and don’t have to be paid.

    Liked by 3 people

  17. Interesting that Parley, just from promoting free speech, has attracted so many Trump supporters. Really I think it is a shame that this has led to the site being more focused upon this, rather than on other matters, meaning that anyone who uses it, regardless of their political views, gets stigmatized. Let’s hope that it does broaden out.

    Liked by 4 people

  18. My hubby used Parler until it was closed down. I am glad it’s back up and hope it succeeds, and I hope people use it for more than political based posts. I joined MeWe and enjoy it immensely. It’s a lot like Facebook, which I was never a fan. There are all types of groups one can join and it seems to be growing in a positive way. I’m with you, Renard, I have no interest in politics. Thanks for the excellent article and sharing your experience on Parler.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. The Mercer family are some seriously dangerous people. They are interested in power and not much else and aren’t particularly concerned with how they get it.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. A well-balanced view of another social media site I have not heard of until now…Not keen on giving my phone number out so would not sign up…Have a great week, Renard 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  26. How interesting! I have never heard of this social media platform before. As a fellow Caribbean national, perhaps you may have heard of WiMatch then? It’s a Caribbean and black-owned social medium, actually designed and built by a Trinidadian. I don’t use it much.. it’s mostly for sharing memes, and is a bit like Twitter and Instagram in one but with much less censorship (some degree of pornography is allowed).

    Liked by 2 people

  27. Great amount of information about Parler. I did not knew about the app until Google decided to take it down. Like you mentioned it needs to take more topics into account to attract more people. Thank you for sharing your view.

    Liked by 2 people

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