PARLER is a Twitter-like platform that promotes free speech, caters content to an alt-right conservative crown, and claims not to censor its users. The Twitter alternative is a social media platform that emerged during the Donald Trump era.
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What is the Parler app?
Parler was founded in 2018 by John Matze. The app allows users to post images or text and share echoes of other users’ posts, similar to Twitter’s retweets. It was supposed to be a bastion of free speech but sparked controversy after it was accused of helping to facilitate the riots at the Capitol building in January 2021.
The app was removed from Google Play and Apple’s app store shortly after the Capitol siege. Apple reinstated the app in April 2021, and nearly 1.5 years later, the app resurfaced on Google Play in September 2022.
Parler has recently modified the app to allow users to block and report other users and actively monitor inappropriate content. The company also set up its own new parent company in September, called Parlement Technologies.
They intend to provide their own cloud services for online businesses.
Was Kanye West supposed to buy Parler?
News that Kanye, who legally changed his name to Ye, would be acquiring Parler surfaced in October 2022. The platform shared the news and said that the deal was expected to be finalized by the end of the year.
Ye said in a statement released by Parler that conservative opinions should be heard. He said: “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial, we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves.”
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But for reasons not disclosed by the company, the deal went sideways, and Parler announced via Twitter on December 1, 2022, that Ye would not be purchasing their app.
This came the same day that Ye gave an interview on Alex Jones’s Infowars in which he praised Hitler and the Nazis.
It also comes after many of Ye’s other partners, such as Adidas, The Gap, and Balenciaga, cut ties with the rapper following his onslaught of hate speech and anti-semitic remarks.
Of the deal, Parler tweeted the following statement: “In response to numerous media inquiries, Parlement Technologies would like to confirm that the company has mutually agreed with Ye to terminate the intent of sale of Parler.”
“This decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November.”
How popular is Parler?
According to Fortune, Parler peaked in popularity in January 2021, just before it was removed from Google Play, Apple’s app store, and had its dot com site removed. The first half of 2021 saw 5.2million netizens using the app.
According to mobile app tracker Data.ai, the app fell to an average of only 750k monthly users during the first half of 2022. This data included both those within and outside of the US.
Before its fall from grace, Parler was ranked the number one free social media app on Apple’s app store. But even following robust campaigning and fundraising efforts in January 2022, the app isn’t as popular as before.
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This could be due to Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, where he made good on his promise to reinstate former President Donald Trump and made censorship a bit looser.
In the quarter before Musk’s Twitter takeover, Twitter saw 237.8 million active users, according to Fortune.