Comparing the Language of QAnon-Related Content on Parler, Gab, and Twitter

Andrea Sipka, Aniko Hannak, Aleksandra Urman

Abstract: Parler, a “free speech” platform popular among conservatives, was taken offline in January 2021 due to the lack of moderation of harmful content. While other popular social media platforms were also used to spread conspiratorial, hateful and threatening content, Parler suffered the most consequences in the aftermath of the 2020 US presidential elections, having been singled out in the news coverage. Through a comparative study, we identify differences in content using #QAnon across three social media platforms, Parler, Twitter, and Gab, focusing on the volume, the amount of anti-social language, and the context of QAnon-related content over a month-long period. While the number of posts is the highest on Parler, this could be attributed to the differences in the use of hashtags on the platforms, which has consequences for other analyses. In our analysis, Parler exhibits the highest levels of anti-social language, while Gab has the highest proportion of #QAnon posts with hate terms. To get at qualitative differences in the posts, we perform analysis of named entities and narratives, focusing on differences in the focus of conversations and the levels of anti-social language of posts mentioning different groups of political figures.