Resisting the Influence
Parler’s Stance Against Social Media Addiction
Conscious that we live in an age of constant digital engagement, leading social media corporations – from Facebook to TikTok – are known to employ some methods to encourage users to spend as much time as possible on their sites, and eventually get addicted to them. Parler is moving in the opposite direction, and places an emphasis on developing healthy, non-addictive digital habits.
Platforms such as Facebook and TikTok are designed to maximize user engagement, and, to this end, they often use interface features (for example, endless scrolling, auto playing videos and recommendation widgets) that keep users on screen for as long as possible. The unintended consequence of this behavior is that social media users might become so addicted to their respective platforms that they spend large portions of their day unproductively and, in some cases, at the cost of their own mental wellbeing.
The key feature of Parler that I consider to be beneficial to the wellbeing of its users is the company’s resistance against the pull of short-term dopamine hits that lures other social media sites to use habit-forming features that hook their users. In Parler, users are permitted to carry on real and thoughtful conversations without being distracted by intentionally designed elements connected to frenetic behavior. Design elements that are not meant to promote compulsive behaviors do not have a place in Parler.
Parler is a platform that revolves around personal agency ‘How often I check in on Parler is my choice. How long I stay on Parler is my choice,’ reads the ‘Parler Manifesto’. Let’s recap: Parler’s entire M.O. is the assertion of user agency. Its ideal user is fully aware of how to authentically and precisely engage on the platform for the value it provides, and it is geared towards discouraging mindless engagement akin to an addiction. Given Google’s recent authoritatively-worded commitment to (in part) ‘encouraging purposeful interactions’, it seems almost certain that Parler will pivot to be as helpful as possible to its own cause: users seeking a free, ethical, mentally healthy space free from addictive digital overload.
As users debate how social media affects their mental health, Parler’s resistance to offering an addictive product allows progressive people to signal their values regarding mental health, connection and balanced online engagement. To use Parler is to symbolize one’s stance against digital addictiveness.
