What is Parler App? The new app is the reason why people are exiting Twitter & Facebook

The social networking app Parler has risen to popularity among social media users in recent months. If one goes on the Parler Official website, the website describes itself as a “free speech” microblogging alternative to platforms like Twitter. A report in Mashable India has revealed that the founders of Parler created the social media app after realising that many big tech companies have an anti-conservative bias in today's day and age. Read on to find out, “What is Parler App?"

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What is Parler App and Who owns Parler?

Parler is a social network founded by John Matze and Jared Thomson, two Nevada-based conservative programmers, in 2018. Although Parler has been around for some time now, the website’s popularity grew in the summer of 2020, when Parler became particularly popular with conservatives and Trump supporters. One of the major reasons behind this is that big social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter cracked down on misinformation and began banning users for spreading ‘Fake News.’ In the process, many users claimed that new rules were targeting conservatives and that they'd been silenced on both Facebook and Twitter. The arrival of Parler prompted mass exit off Facebook by many of its users.

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While Parler was founded in 2018, as a conservative social network, the platform didn't take off immediately. However, it saw a surge of new users joining the app after President Trump’s tweets were slapped with misinformation warning labels by Twitter. Many right-wing personalities who had been looking to practice free speech, which essentially means being able to publish without fact-checks. It also became a safe haven for those wanting to avoid far-right platforms mired with racism, like Gab.

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Parler is named after the French word meaning “to speak.” According to mobile analytics firm Sensor Tower, Parler had received an estimated 636,000 downloads from Google Play and the App Store in the U.S. on November 8 just after the election results were announced. These numbers topped Parler's previous best day in June when it had received 119,000 new downloads. Incidentally, it was also the day when Twitter removed Trump's manipulated "racist toddler" video because of the copyright holder. By July 2020, the platform reportedly had 2.8 million users.

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Who is Dan Bongino and how is he related to Parler?

Dan Bongino is a conservative American political commentator. He is also an investor in Parler, which has had a surge in new downloads of the social media app. Bongino took to his Twitter to announce, "Thousands of people are flocking to Parler by the minute as they give the [middle finger emoji] to the tech tyrants at Twitter. It's beautiful to watch!" At present, according to Sensor Tower, the Parler app appears to be more popular in terms of new installs since November 3. It is currently performing better than a slew of popular social networking apps inside the U.S., including TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.