By Daisy Luther

November 20, 2020 - After years of being censored on Facebook and Twitter, Conservatives, Libertarians, and other fans of free speech are making a mass exodus to new platforms. One that has really taken off since the 2020 election is Parler, which has been the most downloaded app in the country over the past two weeks.

Unsurprisingly, mainstream media and Left-wing extremists are outraged. How dare the people who have been censored, deplatformed and shut down on their social media sites move to a site that promises not to treat them like pariahs? They go as far as to say it’s a “threat to democracy” because Libertarians and Conservatives get to post.

I mean, seriously, we can’t be letting Conservatives and Libertarians post their opinions all willy-nilly, right? What will happen without the “fact-checkers”?

Personally, I haven’t had access to my own Facebook pages for more than a year and won’t unless I send them photos of my passport, a utility bill, and other identifying information, because they didn’t think my driver’s license was sufficient. As well, I voluntarily archived my thriving preparedness groups because of the threat of losing both my groups, my own personal account, and the accounts of all my moderators if we let through a post of which Facebook disapproved.

Remember when Twitter shut down Zero Hedge’s account for posting something about the coronavirus they deemed as misinformation that was later proven to be true? How they put warnings on nearly anything the president posts? Also, how conservative and libertarian websites are being demonetized?

I invite you to try posting anything on standard social media that questions vaccines, the outcome of the 2020 election, the COVID lockdowns, or is pro-gun. I’ll see you in Facebook jail.

To hear MSM talk about it, everyone over there has a “bunker mentality”, they’re joyously engaging in racism and hate speech, and they just want an echo chamber. It’s “not good for the country,” according to commentators on communist CNN.

“There’s this new social media app called Parler getting a lot of attention, because Conservatives are leaving, saying they’re leaving Twitter and Facebook, going over to Parler, because they believe Parler is a safer space for them. What we’re seeing is even more of a bunker mentality in Right-wing media. Ultimately that’s not good for the country.”

For those who want free speech that is not Left-leaning, Parler definitely seems like a better option than the Big Tech monoliths. However, there are a few things to remember.

• If you get to use something for free, youare the product. Either your eyeballs on advertisements or your information will make Parler money one of these days. It’s understandable - the expense of running a platform like that is immense.
  
  
• While the rules may be favorable toward your position right now, it doesn’t mean they always will be.Facebook didn’t start out censoring the snot out of everyone who didn’t agree with Mark Zuckerberg. The rules will evolve.
  
  
• Don’t share too much personal information.I know you guys are aware of this, but I just want to remind you not to share the kind of personal information that would allow people to find out where you live, when you’ll be on vacation, etc. Nothing online is safe.
  
  
• Don’t become too dependent on one outlet.Whether you’re a blogger like me or someone who just wants to connect with like-minded people, don’t forget that you are using their platform. They make the rules and they can decide whether you can stay or go, whether you can post certain things, or whether they want to change direction. It’s comparable to building a house on borrowed land. It might be nice land, but it’s not yours.

With these caveats in mind, I’ll see you over there if you are a social media person.