No matter how you look at it, Truth Social is on life support. But it’s not Elon Musk’s fault.
Like Trump’s decisions about employees, his handling of Truth Social proves equally mishandled. Frankly, I don’t think Musk would have bought Twitter if Truth Social had performed to a fraction of expectation.
I got approved a while back for Truth Social. It took weeks to get my profile approved, and I have no idea why. I got Secret Service clearance to see Trump in person faster than it took to get me approved.
This is insane. Who doesn’t let people on the site en masse? Trump doled out tickets like Truth Social was Disneyland Paris. I liken it to having a grand opening, and only allowing one shopper in your store per hour.
While I waited for approval, #433,823 in line, I was bombarded with “teaser” emails letting me know I was “close” to approval. If you clicked the email, you were asked to make a donation.
Finally, I got approved!
I remember clearly checking over dinner, as the subject of the botched rollout was a matter of discussion with friends. They shared in the celebratory moment with me and my wife.
A moment later, I got an email notification. I figured it was a “Welcome message” with some encouragement about enjoying my new found social media freedom. Instead, it was bot message from Trump who asked if I wanted him to be my friend…for a donation, of course. I’ll pass.
Once I logged in, things pissed me off further. Truth Social gives preferential treatment to social media influencers. The site stacked the deck for the haves vs. the have nots.
I was forced to pick at least two of 50 people handpicked by Truth Social to follow. Donald Trump, Jr., Dan Bongino, Sean Hannity, and the like. These are people who need no leg up in social media. Yet that’s what they got.
Meanwhile, many of us who are TRUE influencers–the reason social media banned us in the first place–were treated like Sodomites.
I verified from others that the choices didn’t rotate–certainly a more fair way to get people connected.
No wonder Trump’s stock is sliding in Truth Social.
CNBC reported that Digital World Acquisition Corp’s shares fell to nearly 13 percent on Monday. This brings the company’s year-to-date losses to over 30 percent.
Truth Social, which officially launched in February was created by Trump after he was permanently banned from multiple social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram for actions involving the Jan.6 insurrection at the Capitol, CNBC noted.
Truth Social offered Trump the keys to the kingdom. Imagine if he built anything close to Facebook or Twitter. Having hundreds of millions of people at his beckon call. The algorithms he could create would crush Democrats. I said on my radio show that if Trump did this right, he would become the richest man in the world.
Musk saw the opening.
In what people thought was impossible, Musk put his money where his mouth is. He bucked up and ended the Gestapo tactics of one social media site. And you can bet the board of Facebook took notice. Because Musk’s business plan will ultimately steal market share from Zuckerberg.
As for Trump, he will play coy for a while.
In an interview with Fox News published Monday, Trump said he has no plans to return to Twitter.
“I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth,” Trump told the media outlet.
“[Twitter ] became very boring because conservatives were thrown off or got off the platform when I left,” Trump said. The bottom line is, no, I am not going back to Twitter.”
Boring no more, DJT.
As of this writing, Truth Social only has an iPhone app. Android is “coming soon”. Twitter is a fully functional site that had no idea how to monetize. Think Musk will allow this to happen for very long?
Twitter functions, and functions well. Without fear of retribution, Twitter can become a leading news outlet. My bet is Musk already realizes the potential to capture breaking news faster than any news outlet. What will he do with this information?
Never say never, Donald. Many people said this about EVs and flying cars.
I predict a grim future for Truth Social.
