Banned from Twitter and Facebook following the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Donald Trump announced with great fanfare that he would create his own social network, one in which he had no censorship. However, little more than a month after the premiere, the numbers are not what one would expect, and everything is problematic.
Launched with the ultimate goal of challenging the great technological tyrants, Truth Social was released on February 20. And since then, it has chained so many technical issues that it has quickly become an object of ridicule on other social media platforms.
The failure and problems of Truth Social
Despite the download boom at launch, Truth Social continues to experience several technical problems. Similar to Twitter in options and interface, Trump Media & Technology Group’s network is now out of the Top 100 of the most downloaded apps with a 93% drop in subscriptions.
According to an analysis by the Daily Beast on March 30th, new monthly accounts were only 60,000 compared to 800,000 in the month of launch. Truth Social is in fact still downloadable only on iOS smartphones and tablets, remaining off limits for Android and web browsers – which isn’t helping the numbers get any better.
The slowdowns for new registrations are worrying. James Clayton, a BBC reporter, was taken aback when he tried to subscribe to Truth Social. After entering his personal data, he was put on a waiting list with the number 1.419.631.
Many who were waiting for news from the tycoon begin to show impatience, especially on Twitter. “I signed up a couple of weeks ago and I’m still waiting” posted one user, while another joked that Trump will probably return president even before he gets in for the first time.
Devin Nunes, CEO of the parent company of Truth Social Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), announced at the time that the platform would be fully operational at the end of March. However, the social network is far from having achieved that goal. And to make matters worse, two important executives would have left the platform last Monday, according to Reuters.
The former president is furious and confused
As reported by the BBC, some rumors speak of a furious Trump, so much so that he hasn’t published anything for over a month. “Be ready! Your favorite president will arrive soon!”, reads the last post put online in mid-February. Since then, the former president, once extraordinarily outspoken on Twitter, has remained silent.
How little activity has been shown to date has been echoed in various media platforms as well. At the beginning of March, Insider reported that two weeks after the launch, Trump had not published since that first day. And in the middle of last month, The Guardian once again noted the little activity of the former president in Truth Social. According to the Daily Beast, there were even those who had heard the former president on the phone cursing gratuitously and asking ‘What the hell is going on?’. Apparently, the tycoon is not happy with how his social network is doing.
“Nobody seems to know what’s going on”, said an anonymous Republican source to BBC. “It would take a few days to fix everything, so why did six weeks go by? We expected initial sobs, but not at this point.”
In short, Truth Social, born to compete with the giants of Silicon Valley, seems to have problems even standing alone.
Are there others to follow in Trump’s footsteps?
The problems of Truth Social are in the news at a time when another well-known critic of Twitter – and simultaneously a fan of this platform, Elon Musk, has become a shareholder of the social network by acquiring 9.2% of the company.
Musk uses Twitter almost as intensively as Trump is accustomed to. Although he is not blocked from this platform, he has deleted some of his tweets and just a few weeks ago, the South African businessman accused Twitter of not adhering to the principles of freedom of expression and undermining democracy.
In fact, he interviewed 80 million followers to find out if the social network respects the principles of free speech.
Back then, when the rumors about alleged Twitter shares purchased by Elon Musk were still just rumors, someone had not failed to raise the doubt that the entrepreneur was thinking of launching a new social network.
Musk is already expected to change what he doesn’t like about the social network after joining Twitter as a shareholder and board member of the company, but what his next action will be remains a matter of curiosity.
Would you abandon Twitter for Truth Social? How about Elon Musk’s social network? Let us know what you think in the comments section below and don’t forget to follow INFLOW Network on our socials.