Trump's Truth Social: A Looming Business Catastrophe
Written on
Chapter 1: The Rise and Fall of TRUTH Social
It seems I was right; former President Donald Trump's latest business endeavor appears to be heading straight for disaster, reminiscent of Trump University and Trump steaks. The social media platform TRUTH Social, intended to rival established tech giants, is already facing significant challenges. Like many of Trump's business pursuits, its demise seems imminent within a year.
As expected, the man known for his bizarre suggestions—like using bleach to combat the coronavirus—has added another failure to his portfolio. Launched in February, TRUTH Social is already showing troubling signs. Initially, the app was exclusively available on iPhones, causing delays for users eager to download it. The Guardian reported that one of their writers waited nearly a month to gain access. At one point, the platform attracted around 300,000 daily views, but recent data from SimilarWeb indicates it now ranks 173rd in app downloads—a poor showing in a click-driven industry.
Everything You Need to Know About Trump's Truth Social in Under 6 Minutes
Chapter 2: A Lack of Expertise
The appointment of former Representative Devin Nunes as the head of TRUTH Social raises further concerns. Nunes, like Trump, lacks a solid understanding of social media. Having been active on social networks since the early days of Yahoo! Groups, I can confidently say that both Nunes and Trump are far from experts in this field.
Section 2.1: Users' Discontent
Many early adopters who managed to sign up are expressing dissatisfaction with the platform, which has been criticized as a mere imitation of Twitter. This isn’t surprising, as the site primarily attracts a right-leaning audience. TRUTH Social has devolved into a space where conservatives engage with one another without the typical back-and-forth that comes from opposing views. Some users have even voiced their frustration over the absence of liberal voices to debate.
In an interview with the far-right outlet The Right Side, Trump claimed, “It’s slowly been opened, people are getting on, and they’re loving the product.” However, behind the scenes, he has been vocal about the platform's poor launch, a classic example of Trump’s tendency to spin narratives in his favor.
Section 2.2: The Echo Chamber Effect
“It’s all just a Band-Aid because it’s our own little kind of echo chamber,” remarked Roland Johnson, a TRUTH Social user who faced a ban from Instagram for misinformation, as reported by NBC News. Ironically, Trump himself has scarcely utilized his platform, with only a handful of posts since its inception, failing to leverage his celebrity to enhance its visibility.
President Trump Delivers Remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference
Chapter 3: The Inevitable Collapse
As previously noted, the failure of TRUTH Social should come as no shock. Trump has consistently shown himself to be a poor businessman, relying on licensing deals, media ventures, and political maneuvers for income. He squandered a significant inheritance and now finds himself billions in debt; let's cease the narrative of Trump as a successful entrepreneur.
Moreover, his ignorance of social media and online dynamics is glaringly obvious. TRUTH Social is merely another of Trump's whimsical ventures that he managed to get financed by others. Appointing a farmer like Nunes to lead a social media company was a recipe for failure.
TRUTH Social will undoubtedly join the lengthy list of Trump's failed enterprises, which includes Trump Shuttle, Trump Magazine, the Trump board game, Trump Mortgage, and even his own sons. To echo the words of European soccer coach José Mourinho, “he’s a specialist in failure.”