Thread by @fawfulfan

THREAD: You might have noticed right-wingers all just sort of...stopped talking about Parler.

That's because they realized it's actually a pretty crappy social network.

To begin with the most obvious problem, it was an echo chamber. The whole thing was based on a right-wing conspiracy theory that conservatives are being censored, so only conservatives joined, and there was no political debate. Boring.

But that's just the start of it.

Parler claims that it's a true haven for free speech, but it isn't.

Its terms of service have nearly all the content restrictions Twitter does, and some, like its prohibitions on vulgar language, are stricter. And they reserve the right to take down anything with no explanation.

But it gets worse. Parler also has way worse privacy protections than Twitter.

You can't even unlock all of its features, like direct messaging, without submitting your Social Security Number and a photo of your driver's license, and they don't give any compelling reason why.

And that's not the only crazy shit buried in Parler's terms of service.

There's also a forced arbitration and indemnification clause. You can't sue them, and if *they're* sued, they can hold you liable for their damages if they decide your content is at fault.

And as if all of that isn't bad enough, unlike Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or even TikTok, Parler's *entire site* is hidden behind a login wall!

That inherently cripples it as a useful social network because it has no reach on other sites.

Parler is going to stick around as a sad little echo chamber for people who got banned from other social networks for hate speech. But it isn't going to take off, even among any significant fraction of the right.

Already most politicians who jumped on it are abandoning it.