Some thoughts on the rise to prominent ranking positions of conservative news apps and "free speech" social networking apps following US election day (1/X)

2/ First, it should be noted that the torrent of installs being received by these apps is driven by organic search. None of these apps makes the Top 20 in terms of advertiser impression reach ("share of voice") in the US, according to Sensor Tower

3/ What's driving users to want to install these apps? It's almost certainly the steps that Twitter and Facebook have taken to reduce the circulation of misinformation on their platforms.

4/ Facebook & Twitter deny the confirmation-seeking behavior of certain segments of their user bases, and those people satisfy that desire elsewhere. The rise of these apps -- where conspiracy theories run rampant -- is a wholly predictable response https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/mewe-anti-vaxxers-conspiracy-theorists-822746/

5/ This is the problem with the arguments made in The Social Dilemma and by Tristan Harris et al. Facebook didnt establish ex nihilo conspiratorial thinking; FB exposed a rewards mechanism that allows publishers to benefit from publishing extreme views https://mobiledevmemo.com/algorithms-and-safe-harbor-is-algorithmic-content-protected-by-section-230/

6/ Parler, MeWe, Newsmax fade into the background after the election is settled because the power of network effects bestows a gravitational pull on Facebook, Twitter. FB and Twitter can be influenced to issue warnings and hide misinfo. They are important partners in that fight.

7/ Facebook and Twitter did an excellent job of managing narrative veracity during the election & current aftermath (less so other platforms, like YouTube). More aggressive curation might have pushed even more people to these lawless platforms

8/ Prevailing sentiment across tech seems to be that FB & Twitter fail totally to curtail misinformation dissemination & should do more to completely eradicate it. That notion seems a) moored to a partisan notion of "truth," b) completely unworkable, & c) beneficial to eg. Parler

9/ Id rather see FB and Twitter take a conspicuous yet purposefully objective approach to flagging narrative veracity versus outright censorship. The demand for Parler, Newsmax etc clearly exists. Why amplify it?