Disappointed by new measures to combat misinformation and following the outcome of the election, many Trump supporters turned to the alternative social media platform Parler over the weekend. Parler’s official website states that the service allows users to “Speak freely and express yourself openly, without fear of being ‘deplatformed’ for your views.”

In the days after the official election results were announced, Parler experienced a significant increase in downloads across both Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store. An Android application labeled “Parlor” also saw a surge in popularity on Monday, most likely resulting from users misspelling the name of the Parler app during searches.

Joe Biden was declared the winner on Saturday, securing the crucial state of Pennsylvania and becoming the president-elect. This outcome followed a period of five days of vote counting, during which President Trump repeatedly challenged the integrity of the U.S. election process.

According to data from Sensor Tower, Parler reached the #7 position in the App Store on November 7th. The following day, it climbed to #1 – a first for the application. It currently maintains the top spot, a considerable change from its position a week prior, when it was the 1,023rd most downloaded app.

A similar trend is evident in Google’s app marketplace, where Parler rose from #51 on Saturday to #5 on Sunday, ultimately reaching the #1 position today. Newsmax TV, a competitor to Fox News, and MeWe, described as a “next-gen social network,” also ranked among the top 5 apps on Google’s platform.

Parler’s growing popularity is a noteworthy development, but not entirely unexpected. Individuals anticipating potential bans have been directing their followers to Parler and other platforms favored by the far-right with each new policy change implemented by Twitter and Facebook. Gab, which identifies itself as “the free speech social network,” is also attracting supporters of President Trump.

“It is difficult to accept that a small number of companies in Silicon Valley will perpetually maintain complete control over the dissemination of information, communication, and news,” wrote Gab CEO Andrew Torba in a blog post on Sunday.  Torba was removed from Y Combinator’s alumni network following the 2016 election due to threatening statements and instances of harassment.

Despite calls for a widespread migration, many well-known conservative personalities who have accused Twitter and Facebook of censorship have continued to maintain their presence on those platforms, recognizing that their reach would be substantially reduced on alternative social networks.

Dan Bongino, a Fox News contributor and supporter of President Trump, urged his followers to join Parler last week, expressing concern that “Fakebook” might take action against his page. On Facebook, Bongino’s content consistently performs well, and his page has nearly four million followers. It is worth noting that Bongino announced an ownership stake in Parler earlier this year.

https://twitter.com/dbongino/status/1324527852042276864

On Parler, the Trump campaign is soliciting donations for an “election defense task force,” although the terms indicate that half of each donation will be allocated to existing debts. The campaign has not recently published much original content on the platform, instead repeatedly sharing similar messages.

For those Trump supporters who were sharing unsubstantiated claims regarding the election, the changes were anticipated. Facebook implemented a series of policy updates in the months leading up to the election, prohibiting QAnon, taking action against violent groups, and introducing new features designed to limit the spread of misinformation, which had become widespread on the platform over the previous four years.

As President Trump’s attempts to question the election’s legitimacy gained momentum, Facebook responded by taking further action. The company began concealing search results for the hashtag #StopTheSteal and removed a prominent group due to “calls for violence” made by some of its members.

Despite not conceding the election, President Trump, by Monday, saw Joe Biden’s transition team begin its work, announcing the members of a coronavirus task force intended to address the pandemic, where the Trump administration’s response had been lacking.

With the election results finalized, the established processes of the U.S. government continued to move forward toward the transfer of power in January, as has occurred in every previous election.