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Parler 'free speech' app tops charts in wake of Trump defeat

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Re: Parler 'free speech' app tops charts in wake of Trump defeat

#51
post #18
post #12

Twitter alternatives will all fail because they try to be an application for millions. They see Twitter and see the volume of users so build something for the numbers and hope that they are less bad. But Twitter and every other thing that has grown big has 1) started small 2) was not initially created to be big and 3) was attractive to use.

Twitter succeeded because (and I'm not au fait with the details of how exactly) they managed to onboard a lot of high profile users from a variety of different walks of life. Everybody else came to hear what they had to say. This must have been a huge amount of work, and not something that's talked about much and I can only presume you'd have to do something similar to mount any kind of credible opposition. That's a…

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Re: Parler 'free speech' app tops charts in wake of Trump defeat

#52
post #37

Do they really want just an echo chamber though? As I understand it they are catering to the far right. Some of the fun they have on FB or Twitter is probably arguing, feeling controversial, etc.

Also because the corporate media in general and the left leaning companies, don’t really respect facts anymore. Entire networks ignore valid stories. And they subtly and aggressive distort and deflect, “There is no explicit evidence of overt corruption and to suggest otherwise is dangerous to our institutions.”

I’m a big defender of intelligence agencies but people like John Brennan are widely hated within the Intelligence Community. The political operatives masquerading as intelligence officials are leading CNN — which is disturbing.

Reality has been conflated. We’re all living in a conspiracy theory.

Re: Parler 'free speech' app tops charts in wake of Trump defeat

#53
post #24
post #3

Apart from various "trust and safety" censorship and moderation activities, what new features or updates has Twitter done in the past 3 years? I can't think of many changes they've made beyond those things, except for adverse ones (like breaking Firefox compatibility for months). Is it a conscious choice for them to actively do nothing? MySpace died because it didn't innovate and refused to invest in the core platfor…

They have given the option to disable the algorithmic timeline. This has been a game changer for me. I can use twitter without fear of being exposed to unction.

Really? That was the single most annoying thing they had done. I switched to using tweetdeck just to escape that change. Is it disabled permanently when you turn it off now? The "you can turn it off but we'll automatically turn it back on" bit was mind blowingly terrible.

Re: Parler 'free speech' app tops charts in wake of Trump defeat

#54

I think that all these platforms: Parler, Gab, etc, will end up with one of two fates. They'll either fail to make it big and remain a niche thing for those trolls who enjoy the edginess, like 4chan and its newer alternatives, or... They'll grow big and end up having to deal with "trust and safety" issues when the majority of users on the mainstream end of the spectrum demand protection from those users who would oth…

> their terms of service prohibit inciting terrorism or acts of violence – issues that 4chan/etc deal with by allowing it

4chan and similar communities typically comply with local laws[1], which means no incitation to violence/terrorism (and if you spent some time there vs. only reading articles about it, you'd see this is enforced).

Re: Parler 'free speech' app tops charts in wake of Trump defeat

#57
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn’t mean they don’t have a massive potential market. All the centre right people who see Twitter banning people for questioning unlimited immigration, or trans men competing against women in sport, and feel like current social media companies aren’t for them. I think in this election Twitter definitely, but also Facebook have taken sides. There are a lot of normal, decent right wing people out there, despite…

My point is that I think those people will end up realising that they need some form of moderation that will likely conflict with the core premise of the platform.

Moderation is not binary... There's a hell of a difference between banning misgendering and banning someone who spends all day sending unsolicited replies or shock images.

Re: Parler 'free speech' app tops charts in wake of Trump defeat

#58

I think that all these platforms: Parler, Gab, etc, will end up with one of two fates. They'll either fail to make it big and remain a niche thing for those trolls who enjoy the edginess, like 4chan and its newer alternatives, or... They'll grow big and end up having to deal with "trust and safety" issues when the majority of users on the mainstream end of the spectrum demand protection from those users who would oth…

> fail to make it big and remain a niche thing for those trolls who enjoy the edginess, It would fail on those terms as well due to irrelevance: When your political agenda consists of annoying and offending "the other", they need to be present to take offence. If they're not listening, where's the fun? The "echo chamber" aspect takes all the fun out of the performative cruelty.

> When your political agenda consists of annoying and offending "the other", they need to be present to take offense.

I'm not sure what you mean by "the other". "The other" is an actual concept signifying people who are somehow excluded from society. Rarely do people get banned for going after "the other". Most of these people get banned for going after mainstream journalists and politicians. Many don't get banned for going after anyone at all. And many get shadow banned without any notice or explanation.

Secondly, I don't think people on the right consider what people like Milo (for instance) do to be performative cruelty. They see it as exposing hypocrisy. They see it as exercising their god-given right to free speech.

Re: Parler 'free speech' app tops charts in wake of Trump defeat

#59

It reminds me of how reddit went through a period of turmoil with claims of censorship and mods acting too aggressively and all the freedom of speech zealots decided to jump ship over to voat.co. I like to check in from time to time to see how that site is doing, and well...it's not pretty. I know parler is pulling in some pretty big names to give it some legitimacy, but it's probably going to succumb to the same pro…

reddit could still retain "freedom of speech zealots", which I think still have the better arguments for that matter. They are just in other subs now, but they are still there. The admins know about it and leave them their place. Ironically they often are more civilized and often have a higher quality discourse. That isn't always the case though.

Re: Parler 'free speech' app tops charts in wake of Trump defeat

#60
post #20

Ominous that the social networks are splitting along these lines

So given 68 million USA twitter users, if this rate continues, it wouldn't take long to get half the USA switched over. I am assuming most of the new users are USA. I suspect a fair number will use both systems for awhile. There could also be events like say a famous person moving over or being forced to move over that could result in even higher switching rates.
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