[Is Parler a Twitter alternative? – Digital Marketing – Part 17]
In an earlier blog I wrote about
The intermediate level of Twitter marketing and introduced Parler, which is being talked about as a new Twitter alternative. The platform is only 2 years old and in the process of exploring and adding features.
I decided to create an account and review the site myself. This blog is not going to address how you can probably market in this new social media platform but more as a documentation of features I found on Parler and examine if it can live up to the Twitter alternative hype. You can use these findings to fit into your marketing plans in case this platform ever becomes as one of your communication platforms.
Here they go:
AD
Your vote counts
While platforms like Quora and Reddit count your approval as upvotes and downvotes (in Reddit), Parler keeps a separate tab to it. One can navigate to this section and glance at the list of all the content the person/profile has upvoted.
This stands in contrast to other social media as none of them keep a separate list of votes which can be accessed at any given point in time.
Mixture of ads and subscriptions
A few days back the “Ad Network” below read “Influencer Network”. The section is under (Beta) and currently unavailable. Another thing to notice is the “Subscription Only” text in the home feed. The best guess can be that Parler is experimenting to have both the models on its platform.
With social media in its DNA, running ads on a platform is a tried and tested method. It would be interesting to see how they integrate influencer content with subscription model, if at all.
Discover Parleys, Affiliates, and People
This section is self-explanatory. The “Discover” section which is accessible via the hamburger icon on the left, is analogous to Twitter’s home feed and hence chronological in order.
This section mostly covers individual accounts and few technological handles as well. There is no setting, as of today, which can help user choose topics they are interested in. The other two tabs – “Affiliates” and “People” do as they are labelled.
Overall, Parler is yet to be diverse.
The power of moderation
So far, in my opinion, Parler has the upper hand on comment and account moderation when it comes to social media platforms. There are multiple options to:
- Block certain words which could be sensitive to your audience.
- Eligibility based on who and what for commenting.
- Flagging and acting against spams.
- Keeping separate tabs on blocked or muted members.
- A dashboard like section to keep a tab on violations.
Verification and Influencer network
As mentioned above, there is still a tug of war between influencer and ad network on this platform. Currently, ad section is favoured, and it may tie up some way for influencers with a certain number of followers.
This section is currently in Beta and though there could be speculations, it would make more sense to wait to see how it turns out.
Virtual Items in Member Agreement
Under “Settings and Privacy”, the “Member Agreement” lays it out properly what the platform is all about. What caught my attention was the mention of “Virtual Items” and this section talks about transactions of “virtual tokens” in exchange of services from this platform or for exchanging items withing the accounts themselves.
It does not equate virtual tokens to real money, but the clauses do mention the possibility of Parler facilitating features which would let users redeem these virtual items for cash. All of it may tie-up with the influencer network and subscription models.
Popularity with conservatives
Parler caught the attention of
right-wing politicians and influencers during 2020 U.S Presidential elections on the pre-text of promoting “free speech” after Trump supporters were fact checked on Facebook and Twitter.
The article by The Conversation puts things in perspective in detail about the platform. Link:
https://theconversation.com/parler-is-bringing-together-mainstream-conservatives-anti-semites-and-white-supremacists-as-the-social-media-platform-attracts-millions-of-trump-supporters-150439
Conclusion
It can be indisputably concluded that Parler is adding to the widening gap on political polarity. Social media so far have evolved to bring all kinds of views onto a common platform where discussions and debates can take place publicly while the platform itself is ought to be neutral. But
Cambridge Analytica fiasco painted a completely different picture.
Now back to the first question which prompted me to write about Parler in the first place – is Parler a Twitter alterative? I conclude yes, but only for conservatives.
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