12/10/2020 Alternative Social Media Platform Quick Takes

It seems to me that Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are the big three of social media platforms. I suppose you could add Instagram to that, but I'm not sure it fits into the same niches in our daily lives as these behemouths pertain to the sharing of news and political information. Maybe to a lesser extent, but I'll leave it out of this discussion. All three of FB, Twitter, and YT are the subject of much discussion and debate regarding their status as a platform vs. a publisher. This post is NOT intended to delve into that topic. Instead, in my opinion the ideal answer to dissatisfaction many of us may have with the big three is to adopt and use alternative platforms whose post curation practices and policies are more to our liking. This morning, let's look at the some I've been using, in varying degrees. And one I won't used at all, and why.

Parler:

Parler is an alternative to Twitter

First on the list is Parler. Parler is clearly intended to be an alternative to Twitter. I've been on Parler since the beginning.  It's from the French verb to speak, but I think it's pronounced like parlor, as in "Come in to my parlor." Parler has a lot of users, and plenty of traffic. A good number of conservatives who have been banned by Twitter for obstinately, defiantly, and uncompromisingly maintaining their position and posts on issues with which Twitter's left wing censors disagree are now posting on Parler. 

As I write, I am a Parler user, but I see three big drawbacks to Parler. 1) Many of the biggest accounts on Twitter that draw people to that platform aren't on Parler at all. President Trump is the notable missing account, but there are others. Notably, many news, opinion, sports, and other entertainment content producers, and all manner and sort of non-political interests are vastly under represented on Parler. It's something short of critical mass, for lack of a better term. 2) Many of those whose posts I am interested in who have accounts only post to Parler as an afterthought. If I'm interested in keeping up with those persons or organizations in real time, Twitter is where I still need to go to find them. Lastly, 3) Parler's platform needs a lot of work. After 10+ years on Twitter, Parler still feels clumsy, awkward, and rough. The platform still needs a lot of refinement. 

On the plus side, Parler doesn't play games with the number of accounts one might like to follow. Twitter surely does. And Parler does a much better job embracing free speech and allowing expression of opinion than does the highly biased and openly hostile to conseratives platform, Twitter.

MeWe:

The MeWe platform is attempting to replace Facebook

I joined MeWe a month or two ago. For all intents and purposes it appears to be a clone of Facebook. While it's missing a lot of the features in Facebook, like a marketplace, etc., the look, feel, and use of it are very similar to Facebook. Founded on a basis of allowing various points of view and content that liberal Facebook blocks, I like MeWe a lot. There would seem to be three drawbacks. 1) Most of my friends, family, and treasured contacts are on Facebook and haven't and won't move with me to MeWe. 2) Most of the big names in politics, media, sports, entertainment, etc., aren't on it, either. And finally, 3) It just doesn't have all the bells, whistles, and functionality of Facebook, which has a 10 year head start on MeWe, and it shows. Yes, I like MeWe, and wish many more of you would try it, but I do concede it has a long, long way to go to make large inroads into Facebook's traffic. One additional note: MeWe is free, but does offer a pay option. I am only using the free version, and I'm not able to comment knowledgeably about the pay side of it.

Rumble:

Rumble is a fairly new alternative to YouTube.

Rumble is marketed as an alternative to YouTube. Some notable conservative outlets that have been banned by the ultra-liberal YouTube are posting their content on Rumble now. I have a Rumble account, but for almost all of the content I'm interested to see, YouTube is still far and away the place to go for it, frustration with YouTube's politics and policies notwithstanding. Dan Bongino, whose conservative podcast I enjoy occasionally has invested in Rumble and he does market it on his shows. Bongino has an investment and ownership interests in Parler, too, by the way. Thus far I haven't found there's enough content of interest to me on Rumble to draw me to it as a regular user. If the platform can gain more mass and more content of interest, I may find my way over there more often, but not as of now.

Gab:

Spoiler: Gab is garbage.

I tried Gab a couple of years ago and didn't last long. All the cliches and stereotypes of conservatives being racists seemed to be true on Gab. The whack a doodle doo idiots I saw on there aren't my people and I didn't stick around, haven't been back. If Antifa sympathizers and activists don't represent the mainstream of the left, neither does Gab represent the right, Good Ol' Matty P in particular. My advice: Stay away from Gab unless it's specifically your cup of tea. If it is, don't tell anyone. You'll embarrass yourself.