Parler vs. Twitter

[I debated whether to put this in my personal Blog, but I would like feedback from anyone who can answer my questions or provide advice, and I don’t like not being able to edit or delete our blogs.]

I am a relatively new Twitter user, having only had my Twitter account for about a month.  I personally have had no problems on Twitter (which might or might not have anything to do with the fact that I behave on Twitter). However, based on recommendations from a few other G+G members, I decided to check out a Twitter alternative called Parler.

I created a Parler account a few minutes ago, and I’ve encountered a couple issues already.

1. First, Phone Number is currently a required field when creating a Parler account. I never gave Twitter any phone number; I  didn’t need to, because Twitter never required one. I refuse to give any social media site my phone number or home address.  To create an account for Parler, I had to provide a fake one.  After practicing my log out/log in I noticed every time I log in, I am asked for the phone number, and I’m not sure exactly why.  Yes it is fake, but does it know?  I can “skip”  the request, but then I’m presented with a “captcha” —   Every. Single. Time.   This is going to be a problem, a potential deal breaker.  +1 Twitter
2. Second, I can find no way to modify my email address in Parler account settings.  Do I have to contact customer service every time I want to change the email address on my Parler account?  I am able to modify my own email address myself on Twitter. I actually did submit that question to Parler support. +1 Twitter
3. Third, I skipped all “Follow” suggestions when signing in for the first time, yet my Notifications instantly listed messages from a few people I didn’t recognize plus one I did – Rand Paul.  The message was worded as though he was speaking to me directly, but of course it was automated.  I didn’t “follow” these people, so why is Parler putting their messages in my “Feed”; why are their messages worded so that it seems they are really talking to me; and how often does this happen? It’s kinda creepy. I was able to remove each message one by one. Maybe this is just a one-time  “welcome” feature? Benefit of the doubt – no score.
4. I don’t know any video game news outlets on Parler. Not a single one.  Pending? – no score.
5. I experienced a lot of lag typing in the Parler search box, because it tries to search before I stop typing.  Twitter waits until I’ve stopped typing.  +1 Twitter
6. Parler has both UP-voting and DOWN-voting.  Based on my previous obvservations in discussion boards having both….. +1 Twitter
7. An ad counter I use reports several ads on the Parler site, but none for Twitter or Geeks+Gamers.com.  +1 Twitter
8. I created a reply to a post on the  “Parlor Support” account (the profile of the account invited users to do this).  Back to my profile, “1 Comment” was displayed – good. But viewing the reply from my profile, it is impossible to determine to whom the comment/reply was directed. (Twitter displays “Replying to…”)  Double-clicking the reply did nothing.  +1 Twitter
9. Very buggy.  After I deleted a test comment,  a box popped up with these words: “Success! Comment created.”  I tried again, same thing.  Eventually I had to leave because the site became completely unresponsive. My profile showed “2 following”, but clicking on that showed an empty list.  Typing in the search bar started showing 0 results, no matter what I typed.  I decided to log out and log back in, and…then the log in box just sat frozen. A few minutes later, it became responsive again. +1 Twitter

Current Running Score:

Parler – 0

Twitter – 7

My current consensus: I do not like Parler.  I probably won’t keep my account there, but I’ll wait a few days before deciding.