Rise of alternative media

Rise of alternative media

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After the recent election, many alternative media platforms have started to become popular. According to  Influencermarketinghub, most people use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc. After the election, many people have tried to spread misinformation about the election, and these platforms have tried to stop as much of it as possible by fact-checking posts. This led to many people, especially conservatives, to think that their voices were being censored and that these platforms are biased. According to The New York Times, this has caused many supporters of the political right to move to alternative media platforms. These platforms have existed long before the election but have never had much popularity until recently. Since these platforms have less moderation many people are moving to them to post misinformation about the election. According to The New York Times, some of the more popular alternative media platforms right now are Parler, Rumble and Newsmax.

 

Parler is an alternative media platform similar to Twitter. It markets itself as a free speech social media platform. According to Wired, it’s only rules are not to spam or do anything criminal. One of the main reasons political right supporters have moved to the platform is because it has far less moderation over what is posted. This means that misinformation about things like the election can be posted freely on it. According to Forbes, it is also a favorite of Trump. Its number of users has almost doubled since the election, growing from 4.5 million users to over 8 million users.

 

Rumble on the other hand is an alternative to video media sites such as YouTube. According to Fast Company, many conservative YouTubers are moving to this platform because their videos got demonetized on YouTube for misinformation. Rumble does not monitor its site nearly as much as other platforms such as YouTube do. Another reason people are moving to it is that Rumble makes it easier to make money as it is not limited to only ad-based revenue. This means people can make more money by spreading false info. This site has also seen lots of growth since the election. According to The New York Times, more than 60.5 million people have been on the site recently.

 

News media platform alternatives are rising as well as social media platform alternatives. A news platform called Newsmax has gained popularity recently. According to the New York Times, it has recently been found in the top ten daily apps on the Apple App Store. It is an alternative to platforms like Fox News. According to CNN, it is filled with conspiracy theories and misinformation. On Newsmax, Joe Biden is not even the president-elect! 

 

These are not the only platforms that political right supporters are moving to. There are many more that are also gaining popularity. Whether all these alternative platforms will stay popular on the other hand, only time will tell. What we do know is that fake news and those who are willing to consume it has a new life on the internet and the repercussions of this are unknown.