120 million Parler posts reveal users shared content related to Donald Trump’s efforts to challenge election

In recent news, archivists have saved content by users on the social media platform Parler, which was booted by big tech companies like Apple and Amazon. Those posts largely revolve around support for Donald Trump and his efforts during the 2020 election, according to new research co-conducted by Jeremy Blackburn, assistant professor of computer science at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

Blackburn and fellow researchers performed the first-ever data-driven characterization of Parler, analyzing posts and metadata for users that joined the platform between 2018 and 2020. The researchers analyzed 120 million posts, revealing what users post most often about. 

“We found that Parler users share content related to US politics, content that show support to Donald Trump and his efforts during the 2020 US elections, and content related to conspiracy theories,” said Blackburn. “Parler attracts the interest of conservatives, Trump supporters, religious, and patriot individuals.”