Data Privacy Bombshell: How Parler is Changing the Game | Jon Willis DSH #1052

Summary

Digital Social Hour: Data Privacy Bombshell: How Parler is Changing the Game | Jon Willis DSH #1052

Release Date: January 3, 2025
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Jon Willis, CEO of Parler

---

Introduction

In Episode #1052 of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly engages in a compelling conversation with Jon Willis, the CEO of Parler. The episode delves deep into the pressing issues of data privacy, the challenges posed by Big Tech, and Parler's innovative strategies to redefine the social media landscape. Willis shares personal anecdotes, business insights, and a vision for a more autonomous and user-centric digital future.

---

The Data Privacy Crisis

The discussion begins with a stark commentary on the current state of data privacy in major tech platforms.

• Data Monetization Practices:

  • Jon Willis (00:01): “When you click, I accept. When you join Facebook, for instance, you're accepting the fact that they are taking your data, they're selling it for billions of dollars.”
  • Sean Kelly (00:08): “Google and Apple are probably selling our data as we speak.”
  • Jon Willis (00:11): “I heard somewhere it's like 900 bucks per person. Per day. Per day. Per day.”

  Willis highlights the alarming scale at which personal data is commodified, emphasizing that users receive no tangible benefits despite the vast profits generated from their information.

Parler’s Strategic Relaunch and Autonomous Infrastructure

Willis provides an in-depth look into Parler's recent acquisition and the strategic overhaul aimed at creating an independent social media ecosystem.

• Acquisition and Rebranding:

  • Jon Willis (00:44): “We bought Parlor a year ago, so December, actually it was a year ago this week, believe it or not. So we bought Parlor, bought the brand, the database, the IP everything.”

• Building an Autonomous Platform:

  • Jon Willis (01:10): “We decided let's go a little bit bigger and let's just create a whole alternative to Big Tech, you know, a replacement for Big Tech.”

  By establishing their own cloud infrastructure, Parler aims to eliminate dependence on traditional tech giants like AWS, Microsoft, and Akamai, thereby reducing operational costs and enhancing control over user data.

• Introduction of Play TV:

  • Jon Willis (03:27): “We wanted to create a new platform which we just launched, which is really a competitor to YouTube and TikTok, which is Play TV, which is available in the app stores now.”

  Play TV is Parler's answer to existing video-oriented platforms, offering a familiar user experience with additional benefits tied to data privacy and user rewards.

Empowering Users Through Blockchain and Rewards

A significant portion of the conversation centers on Parler’s integration of blockchain technology to empower users financially.

• Data Protection and User Rewards:

  • Jon Willis (05:53): “When you join Facebook, for instance, you're accepting the fact that they are taking your data, they're selling it for billions of dollars.”
  • Jon Willis (05:46): “What we did is we decided to integrate Parler into the blockchain and to create a whole reward system around the social media experience.”

  By embedding the Parlerpay wallet into over 17 million apps, users earn tokens daily merely by participating as light nodes on the blockchain. These tokens can be redeemed within the Parler ecosystem or potentially converted into cryptocurrency and cash in the future.

• Incentivizing Positive Behavior:

  • Jon Willis (15:06): “If you're posting good, wholesome, positive content, you're going to be rewarded more than if you're being a troll or a jerk or whatever.”

  Parler’s rewards system is designed to foster a positive community by incentivizing constructive interactions and discouraging negative behavior.

Challenges with Big Tech Advertising and Censorship

Willis and Kelly critique the evolution of advertising practices and censorship policies on major platforms.

• Decline in Ad Effectiveness:

  • Jon Willis (06:02): “All profit, which are horrible, by the way. I mean, you can make. If you're a small business, I don't know how you survive with Facebook ads. It used to be a great place to get great, and now it's ridiculous.”

  They discuss how ad targeting has become less effective and more restrictive, making it difficult for small businesses to achieve a return on investment.

• Censorship and Shadow Banning:

  • Jon Willis (07:32): “Like if Parlor tried running ads, they'd probably deny it.”
  • Jon Willis (07:58): “They're so shadow banned with Meta.”

  The conversation highlights the biases in content moderation, especially against conservative voices, and how platforms like Parler position themselves against such practices.

Political Landscape and Social Media Influence

The episode transitions into a broader discussion about the interplay between social media platforms and politics.

• Supreme Court and TikTok Ban:

  • Jon Willis (08:25): “Yesterday the Supreme Court announced that they're going to take up the TikTok case.”

  They explore the potential ramifications of the Supreme Court’s decision on TikTok and its unprecedented nature in U.S. policy.

• Elon Musk’s Role:

  • Jon Willis (12:24): “I think Elon's what saved this country 100%.”

  Willis credits Elon Musk with preserving free speech on digital platforms, contrasting his approach with traditional media outlets.

• Future of Media Outlets:

  • Jon Willis (14:10): “What do you think is going to happen with MSNBC?”

  Predictions are made about the future of mainstream media, including potential shifts in leadership and ownership influenced by emerging social media figures.

Global Expansion and Future Plans

Looking ahead, Willis outlines Parler’s ambitions for global reach and deeper integration with blockchain technology.

• Global Focus for 2025:

  • Jon Willis (15:06): “We're really focusing on being global. And with Optio, which is our blockchain that we've integrated with, that's really going to allow us to do that.”

• Optio Rewards and Real-World Applications:

  • Jon Willis (16:32): “Our goal is to one day have those rewards with our Optio accepted here program where similar to what Amex and Discover Cart did back in the day where we will have a network of vendors...”

  By enabling users to spend their earned tokens on essential goods and services, Parler aims to create a seamless bridge between digital engagement and real-world utility.

---

Conclusion

Jon Willis wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to engage with Parler and its new offerings.

• Jon Willis (17:22): “No, just check out Play TV playtv.parler.com and it's available both on iOS and Android. And once you do sign up for Parlor, make sure you set up your Parlor pay wallet and enjoy.”

---

Key Takeaways

• Data Privacy is a Critical Concern: Major platforms monetize user data extensively, often without providing user benefits.
• Parler's Autonomous Infrastructure: By creating their own cloud and integrating blockchain, Parler aims to be a self-sustaining alternative to Big Tech.
• Empowering Users Financially: Through the Parlerpay wallet and token rewards, users can gain tangible benefits from their social media interactions.
• Challenges in Advertising and Censorship: Current ad practices are becoming less effective and more restrictive, particularly against conservative voices.
• Political Influence of Social Media: The role of platforms in shaping political discourse and potential regulatory actions are key discussion points.
• Future Expansion Plans: Parler seeks global expansion and deeper integration of blockchain rewards to enhance user engagement and utility.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Jon Willis (00:11): “I heard somewhere it's like 900 bucks per person. Per day. Per day. Per day.”
• Jon Willis (05:53): “When you join Facebook, for instance, you're accepting the fact that they are taking your data, they're selling it for billions of dollars.”
• Jon Willis (12:24): “I think Elon's what saved this country 100%.”
• Jon Willis (15:06): “We wanted to incentivize good behavior in order to help change culture for the good.”

---

For those interested in exploring a new paradigm in social media that prioritizes user autonomy and data privacy, this episode offers invaluable insights into Parler’s innovative approach and future trajectory.

Transcript

[A]

When you click, I accept. When you join Facebook, for instance, you're accepting the fact that they are taking your data, they're selling it for billions of dollars.

[B]

Google and Apple are probably selling our data as we speak.

[A]

I heard somewhere it's like 900 bucks per person. Per day. Per day. Per day.

[B]

That's actually insane. All right, guys, John Willis here from Parlor. We are at America Fest. You ready? It's going to be a good week.

[A]

Rock and roll, my friends.

[B]

Let's do it. Have you been to America Fest before?

[A]

I haven't. This is my first time.

[B]

Same here.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. I don't know what to expect, but it's been a good start. Yeah, I'm cool people.

[A]

A lot of cool people.

[B]

Parlor's got two booths.

[A]

We do. We're trying to corner the market here.

[B]

Yes, sir. You literally have both corners.

[A]

Both corners, yeah, literally.

[B]

What's new at Parlor?

[A]

Oh, man. You know, we, we are trying to do some pretty crazy stuff. You know, we bought Parlor a year ago, so December, actually it was a year ago this week, believe it or not. So we bought Parlor, bought the brand, the database, the IP everything. And we already owned a tech company already based in Texas and we decided to go ahead and take all the tech that we already had and slap the Parlor label on top of it. And this past year has just been insane. I mean, we've been pretty much working in stealth mode and what we have been building under the radar, under the media radar and such is really a replacement to big tech. You know, you have a lot of these alternative platforms out there like Rumble, which is an alternative to YouTube and then you have True Social, which is an alternative to X. We decided let's go a little bit bigger and let's just create a whole alternative to Big Tech, you know, a replacement for Big Tech. So Parler was a, as was a no brainer to relaunch because it was a well known brand. It was number one in the app store before it was shut down by big Tech right after the 2020 election. You know, Apple, Google and AWS colluded with each other. They all shut it down the same day, right around the same time that Trump was banned and conservatives all around were banned. So what we decided to do is with our other company, we decided to create an autonomous solution that wouldn't be reliant on big tech. And the key component of that is having your own cloud. When you have your own cloud, you pretty much can do whatever the heck you want because from a cost perspective, cloud services you may know this is usually one of the most cost per, most prohibitive things of really trying to build your company because the cost is so expensive. And AWS knows it, Microsoft knows it, Akamai knows it. And so they know these things and so they charge a fortune for these services. And so what we did is we wanted to create this autonomous solution that wasn't reliant on those companies and wanted to put Parler on top of that. And so when you look at the parlor and the parlor ecosystem today, it's completely autonomous. We're not relying on big tech for anything, which, which is awesome. So what we've done is when we relaunched Parler, we knew that it would be entering into a crowded field with threads and X and true social and such. You had these microblogging platforms that are out there and all those platforms really don't have the key demographic that we were chasing, which is Gen Z and Gen Alpha. And so in order to do that, we wanted to create a new platform which we just launched, which is really a competitor to YouTube and TikTok, which is Play TV, which is available in the app stores now. And that's my shameless plug for this.

[B]

I was going to ask about it anyway, Shameless plug.

[A]

But yeah, so Play tv, when you go download Play tv, I mean it's an experience that you're already familiar with. So there's no learning curve to upload a video, upload a burst, which is our version of a reel, so short form content. And you know, we wanted to be able to create that really cool feel to the social media platforms that you guys are already familiar with. But then we wanted to take it a step further and we wanted to really protect, you know, our users data, you know, because we know before with social media like platforms like Facebook and Instagram, the users are the product. Yeah, they're never the beneficiaries. So you know, when you, when you click, I accept. When you join Facebook, for instance, you're accepting the fact that they are taking your data, they're selling it for billions of dollars. You know, when you look at the total number and you get absolutely nothing in return, you get nothing. You know, I mean, you get the experience of being on their platform, but you don't get any of the monetary benefit. So what did we, what we did is we decided to integrate Parler into the blockchain and to create a whole reward system around the social media experience. So to create that utility using a social media platform. So we embedded our wallet, the Parlerpay wallet into over 17 million parlor apps that are sitting on people's phones right now. And every single day, those apps are receiving tokens for being a light node on the blockchain. And so what's really neat about this is as you use Parlor or Play TV or our network of platforms that we're launching, you earn these rewards every day that can be redeemed in our new parlor shop or, you know, eventually, hypothetically, one day we'll be listed on several exchanges, and you can figure out what we can do with the rewards there as you convert them into tokens and eventually crypto and cash. So, you know, that's. That's down the road. But, you know, for us, what we wanted to do is we wanted to make the users not the product, but the beneficiaries of everything that we're doing. So the data is safe because we're never selling it. It's not part of our business model. It's not part of our revenue model. And then it's. It's encrypted with the blockchain. Everything is safe through that. So I love it. Yeah.

[B]

Where Google and Apple are probably selling our data as we speak.

[A]

I think I heard. I heard somewhere. It's like 900 bucks per person. Per day.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Per day. Per day.

[B]

Holy crap. Crap.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's actually insane.

[A]

That's how Tim Cook dresses so nice. He's able to afford those. Those. Nice.

[B]

How did I not know that was that much money? To be honest, I thought it was way less. But even so, the fact that they're selling it and profiting while. While the user gets nothing is.

[A]

Well, do the math. I mean, Facebook has, what, 2.1 billion users?

[B]

Yeah. Wow. So I can't even do the math in my head on that.

[A]

Mucho de niro.

[B]

That's a lot of money. Their margins are high. And then you got the Facebook ads.

[A]

That's all profit, which are horrible, by the way. I mean, you can make. If you're a small business, I don't know how you survive with Facebook ads. It used to be a great place to get great, and now it's. It's ridiculous.

[B]

Same with Google. It's really hard to make ROI unless you have high margin.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like a lot of e commerce businesses that used to run ads, they can't anymore. Yeah. You know, it sucks. Those are like mom and pop shops too. Those are like everyday people.

[A]

Yeah. And, you know, they're saying, hey, we switched to AI. Our new AI targeting is amazing. It's not I mean, it's, it's ridiculous. Back in the day, I used to own a marketing agency and we could do hyper, hyper focused or hyper targeted ads.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, if, I know if I wanted to target someone that ate Cheerios for breakfast every day that was, you know, in their mid-20s, that was Asian, I could do that. Not anymore. I mean, because now even with the targeting, it's, you know, their targeting has gone woke.

[B]

You can't even target how much you make anymore. Right. Like the income.

[A]

Oh, you can't do that. You can't target political parties. You can't do any of that stuff. Wow, I didn't know that. You have to get really creative with your ads, you know, with your keywords and all that stuff in order to get them.

[B]

And a lot of them, they don't, don't approve.

[A]

No, no.

[B]

Like if Parlor tried running ads, they'd probably deny it.

[A]

Oh, yeah, we're a competitor.

[B]

Yeah, they, Yeah, I think they spoke out against Parlor. Right. I saw some posts like Facebook speaking out probably. Yeah. They banned you guys or something.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, we, we have an account there, but we, we're so shadow banned with Meta. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's, it's absolutely ridiculous the, the games that they play. And I think it's laughable when you see Zuckerberg go to Mar a Lago to bend the knee to, to the.

[B]

Donald, you know, donate a million.

[A]

Donated. Yeah. You know, that's probably what he carries in his back pocket.

[B]

Child play for him.

[A]

But, but yeah, I mean, you know, they're, he's saying, oh, yeah, we're, we're going to be all about free speech. Yeah, let's see.

[B]

Yeah, that was more like an apology donation to me. That wasn't an actual genuine donation.

[A]

Yeah. Maybe add two more zeros and maybe we'll talk. Yeah.

[B]

Or do you see Trump's going after some of these platforms and media outlets. I wonder if he'll target a social media platform.

[A]

I mean, we'll see. I mean, we see that yesterday the Supreme Court announced that they're going to take up the TikTok case. You know, TikTok was set to be banned in three weeks. Yeah, the 19th. And so now we'll see. I mean, I, I'd be shocked because, you know, the United States has never banned a company like that before. I mean, even if there, there may be some suspicion that they are Chinese. I mean, that's, it's pretty unprecedented for what we've done in our country. So we'll See what the Supreme Court.

[B]

Says, I mean, they said they're going to ban it for years.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, you're on TikTok. I mean, I'm banned actually. Are you really?

[B]

I got banned last week. Yeah.

[A]

Atta boy.

[B]

Usually I get it back by now, but this one must have really offended them.

[A]

Was it, was it worth getting banned? I mean, was it good content or was it just something stupid?

[B]

Some stupid, like anytime you're a little too conservative, you know you get banned. Unless you're Charlie Kirk, he's got a plug on TikTok.

[A]

Yeah, there you go.

[B]

But yeah, it sucks that platforms are doing that. Has Parler ever shadow banned anyone?

[A]

No, no. In fact, what we do with our moderation, you know, we use AI moderation because we have a zero tolerance on pornography, so we just don't allow it. And the reason being is we are very actively fighting against child sex trafficking and pornography in our opinion is the gateway drug to, to trafficking. And so, you know, for us, our AI is able to catch it before it hits, you know, goes on air sense or gets on the platform. So I know for me, if I leave my phone unlocked and my 5 year old daughter picks up my phone and parlors open, there's nothing I need to worry about because that type of content is captured. Now if you, if you post something like that, you know, something that is a gross violation of our, our rules, of course you're going to, you're gonna get a ban. Yeah, but you know, we do not censor opinions, we do not censor information. We want people to, to actually be adults and figure things out for themselves. You know, so like if, if you want to post something about what you think the flying orbs over New Jersey are, if you want to say that it's Ezekiel's wheel from the Bible or if you want to say it's an alien, great. That's your opinion. We don't care. Post it.

[B]

Where do you buy on the psyop? Same. I think it's government.

[A]

I, I, well, can I. You know, I probably shouldn't talk about this, but I have never seen the Democrats go so quietly with a big loss like this.

[B]

That's actually a good point.

[A]

I mean, you think about it like normally when they lose, there's riots or you know, Russia collusion, you know, that was the big talking point in 2016. But they've been awfully like, ah shucks, we lost.

[B]

I think because part of it's because it was such a landslide though.

[A]

Yes. But also keep in mind that Trump is literally going to dismantle their entire bureaucracy that they, as a party, have built over the last 70 years. I mean, actually, even longer than that. Started with Woodrow Wilson, you know, who started the income tax.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then it went to fdr. That started the. The. You know, the New Deal with Social Security and all that stuff, and then LVJ with the welfare state. So, you know, you have this huge bureaucracy that this fourth branch of government that was created, and Trump's going to come in with Elon and Vivek and completely take it apart, and they're not putting up a fight.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

I mean, that. Like, I. I was talking to someone the other day who's a former congressman, and I'm just like, I don't know. I feel something in my gut that something's going to happen. I hope I'm wrong. I hope it's smooth sailing till January 20. But I don't know.

[B]

I never know.

[A]

You never know. You see what they did with COVID You saw. Nothing's gonna stop these guys.

[B]

They're talking about Monkeypox. You know, I think Cali just talked about it, and they're planning for shutdowns or lockdowns again.

[A]

Yeah. I don't think that's gonna fly, though, because now that everyone has seen through the BS that Fauci was putting out there. Yeah, I. I really don't think they're gonna. Everyone's gonna start seeing through it now because it was proven that it was.

[B]

All right, and that's the power of social media. With X now, you could see stuff live. You saw 100%.

[A]

And I think, in all honesty, I think Elon's what saved this country 100%, because he. He did not allow the government or the DNC to collude and dictate the messaging that went out. They couldn't control him.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And he has the pocket. You know, the pocketbook, in order to. To basically push back and say, hey, you guys can threaten me all you want. It's not going to work.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so we got to give him credit for that. You know, Parlor started as the original free speech app, and then Elon took. Took it and ran with it with X. And so, like, we look at us as. We're not competitors, in a sense. We look at it.

[B]

We're.

[A]

We're contemporaries. We're. We're on the same level when it comes to what we stand for, and we're shoulder to shoulder with everything that he's trying to do.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But I truly think that that the election was swayed because they could not influence society or, or the, you know, the, the voters like they did in 2020.

[B]

Yeah. Did you see that Biden administration was targeting Elon? This just came out a few days ago.

[A]

Oh, shocker.

[B]

Yeah. He spent allegedly $300 million.

[A]

That Elon spent 300 million.

[B]

No, Biden's administration.

[A]

Was that part of Kamala's 2 billion dollar tab that she ran up?

[B]

Could have been. Could have been crazy, right?

[A]

You spend that much money and. Yeah, what, three months?

[B]

It's nuts, dude. Yeah. A billion dollars.

[A]

I mean, I've seen what my wife can do at Target, at Nordstrom, but.

[B]

You know, she spent over what she raised. Right. She went 14 million in the hole or something.

[A]

I think it was actually, I think it was like 20, 25 million. And Trump offered to pay it. What? Yeah, he came back, he's like, hey, I'll take care of that.

[B]

What a big man, you know?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

He settled the ABC for 15. He probably could have got way more if he went the full trial.

[A]

Oh, yeah. And, and I think it may be the end of George Stephanopoulos. They're talking about him quitting ABC right now.

[B]

I mean, I wouldn't be surprised. MSNBC struggling. A lot of these news outlets are really hurting right now.

[A]

What, what do you think is going to happen with msnbc?

[B]

They're saying Elon or Alex Jones will be the new face. Right On. On X.

[A]

Well, who do you think is going to. You know, Elon could buy it.

[B]

He could buy it and put Alex.

[A]

Jones up there or Tucker or Trump Media Group. Yeah, that would be funny.

[B]

That'd be cool.

[A]

I mean, I think that's why Rachel Maddow was crying on air. You know, she go to.

[B]

I can't believe some of their salaries. I don't know if it was her, but she might have been making like 5 million. Something crazy.

[A]

I mean, aren't. If you're a socialist, aren't you supposed to be working for free?

[B]

Yeah. Oh, when you see that with the Congress now, they're trying to get a 70k salary increase, course. And that's like 33%.

[A]

You got to keep up with the inflation that they created.

[B]

Yeah, well, I get that part, but 33%, a little more than inflation, I think, right?

[A]

Well, yeah, but it's, it's a congressional math, so there's always some extra zeros and ones and twos and that.

[B]

So. Yeah. Well, dude, what's next? I guess. What's the big plan for the next few months?

[A]

You Know, for us, as with Parler, as we really do, our huge push in 2025, you know, we're really focusing on being global. And with Optio, which is our blockchain that we've integrated with, that's really going to allow us to do that. As I said, we are going to be rewarding our users for using the platform so as they like share comment, comment and post, even the type of content that they're posting will determine the amount of rewards that they are distributed every single day. So if you're posting good, wholesome, positive content, you're going to be rewarded more than if you're being a troll or a jerk or whatever. And the reason why we're, we're looking at that is how do you change culture? You know, you could either be manipulative and do it by controlling education, controlling media and all that stuff, or you can be incentivizing good behavior. So we want to incentivize good behavior in order to help change culture for the good. And so that's why we created this rewards system and this rewards ecosystem where like for instance, you see you have a single mom who's barely struggling to get by to raise her two kids and at night, what is she doing? She's doom scrolling at, you know, very late hours of the night, she's doom scrolling looking at content. But if she's doing that on Parlor and she's interacting and engaging on the app, the next morning she's going to wake up and guess what's going to be in her Parlor. Pay Wallet Rewards.

[B]

Cool.

[A]

And our goal is to one day have those rewards with our Optio accepted here program where similar to what Amex and Discover Cart did back in the day where we will have a network of vendors where that mom can go into a grocery store like a Walmart or you know, wherever Kroger's and she can pay with her Optio rewards.

[B]

I love that.

[A]

And she can actually go get groceries and food and whatever, you know, get, buy clothes for her kids with Optio instead of with Fiat. And so that's, that's what we're trying to do is to, to reward behavior, reward people that are already doing things that they're, they're used to doing but they never gotten the, the benefit from it. Yeah, and now we're changing that. Now what? We're rewriting the book on how this should be.

[B]

That's awesome. We'll link the app below Parlor, pay below. Anything else you want to close off with John?

[A]

No, just check out play tv playtv.parler.com and it's available both on iOS and Android. And once you do sign up for Parlor, make sure you set up your Parlor pay wallet and enjoy. Enjoy what we have planned.

[B]

Yeah, we'll link it all below. Thanks for coming on, man.

[A]

Thanks, brother.

[B]

Have a good.