For Cyberian ‘X’iles
New ‘rational’ talk app from ex-Parler CEO
The ex-CEO of conservative social media site Parler has launched a new app called Hedgehog that looks to promote “rational discussions,” even as it looks to eliminate cyberbullying and online “mobs” that have plagued other sites — including and especially Parler.
John Matze said he has developed the new app, which has been likened to a hybrid of Flipboard, Reddit and X, after learning hard lessons from his time running Parler — famously shut down in January 2021 over accusations that it helped enable the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters.
The tech entrepreneur cofounded Parler in 2018 partly in response to questionable clampdowns on “misinformation” by social media apps including Facebook and Twitter that frequently targeted conservatives. Parler’s lax regulation, however, left it vulnerable to promoting conspiracy theories during the 2020 presidential election.
Hedgehog, on the other hand, is looking to walk a line to become a destination for news junkies whether they lean to the left or the right — and who are interested in sorting through the facts.
“Hedgehog is going to be successful the more diverse the people are on the platform,” Matze told The Post.
“The fringe left and the fringe right, that’s not our target demographic,” he added. “They probably don’t want to have those good-faith discussions, the debate and the discourse that we are trying to create on the platform.”
Launched in mid-February, the new app aims to accomplish this partly through “guardrails,” which include active community moderation on the platform. But he’s also looking to attract healthy dialogue across the political spectrum by serving up opposing viewpoints.
That means pulling news from a large swath of “trusted sources” that include both Fox News and CNN.
Although the company did not reveal how many users are currently on the platform, it said it “grew accounts by the mid-double digits in April.”
Fox Corp., a sister company to The Post owner News Corp., is a Hedgehog investor. The media giant led Hedgehog’s series A funding with $4 million, plus another $1 million if the platform hits certain performance goals.