An Early Look at the Parler Online Social Network

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive dataset and analysis of Parler, highlighting its user dynamics, political leanings, and the impact of external endorsements and events like the US Capitol storming.

Contribution

It introduces a large-scale dataset of Parler posts and profiles, offering insights into user behavior and content themes on the platform.

Findings

Large influx of users after endorsements by public figures

Discussion dominated by conservative topics and conspiracy theories

User activity reacted to the 2020 US Presidential Election

Abstract

Parler is as an "alternative" social network promoting itself as a service that allows to "speak freely and express yourself openly, without fear of being deplatformed for your views." Because of this promise, the platform become popular among users who were suspended on mainstream social networks for violating their terms of service, as well as those fearing censorship. In particular, the service was endorsed by several conservative public figures, encouraging people to migrate from traditional social networks. After the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, Parler has been progressively deplatformed, as its app was removed from Apple/Google Play stores and the website taken down by the hosting provider. This paper presents a dataset of 183M Parler posts made by 4M users between August 2018 and January 2021, as well as metadata from 13.25M user profiles. We also present a basic characterization of the dataset, which shows that the platform has witnessed large influxes of new users after being endorsed by popular figures, as well as a reaction to the 2020 US Presidential Election. We also show that discussion on the platform is dominated by conservative topics, President Trump, as well as conspiracy theories like QAnon.