Eric Wilson, a managing partner of Startup Caucus, a Republican campaign technology investment fund, said the problem facing Parler was not unique to that platform. Sites built around political communities generally have a hard time building the so-called “network effect” that sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have constructed. That’s because the vast majority of social media users don’t go on the platforms to talk about politics. “And so these concentrated networks of people who want to talk about politics are essentially creating a choir room,” Wilson said.
“This idea of a conservative-only political social media network is not going to take off,” he added. “And I wish these entrepreneurs and investors would put their money into more effective projects.”