Situating Alternative Social Media Sites in the Hybrid Media Ecology

• In Event: Exploring Right Wing Social Media Sites

Abstract

In late 2020, a small social media site called Parler, which billed itself as a free speech alternative to more established sites like Twitter or Facebook, reportedly was used to plan the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Since Parler’s role was uncovered, U.S. media have scrutinized a range of other alternative social media sites, such as Truth Social, started by former President Trump; Rumble, a video site that has signed exclusive deals with several political figures; and Telegram, used by figures as widely ranging as Proud Boys members and Ukrainian government officials. Yet despite this media attention, these sites have received limited scholarly scrutiny – and rarely as a group.

In this study, we use a multi-method approach to examine platform affordances, user views and experiences on seven popular alternative social media sites - Bitchute, Gab, Gettr, Parler, Rumble, Telegram and Truth Social. This approach combines a representative survey of individuals who get news from these sites, audit of the sites’ practices and policies, and a content analysis of roughly 600,000 posts from prominent users from June 2022 to develop a full picture of the experiences, content, and norms on these sites. We find that the users of these sites, who are largely Republican, are generally satisfied with their experience there – often at higher rates than users of other social media sites. This satisfaction rests in part on the sites’ ability to keep them informed and show them the information they wouldn’t see elsewhere. Further, posts by prominent users on these alternative sites frequently include discussion of popular polarizing issues while linking to information from less well-known and credible sources. Users and the sites themselves also champion these sites as true alternatives to more established sites by highlighting their limited levels of moderation and a sense of fewer restrictions overall. This research establishes a first look at this evolving and politically significant segment of the social media space.

Authors

• Galen Stocking, Pew Research Center

• Shreenita Ghosh, Pew Research Center

• Regina L Widjaya, Pew Research Center