Come on, how often are we going to get the chance to use ‘Florida man’ correctly in a headline? Donald Trump, former US president and declarer of multiple bankruptcies, has announced a new social media platform, TRUTH Social. Because that other thing he did was totally not the social media platform he promised, guys. Really.
Florida man tries again
What form TRUTH Social will eventually take isn’t known, because at the moment it’s just a landing page where potential users can register their interest and pre-order the app on Apple’s App Store. The platform will function as “…America’s “Big Tent” social media platform that encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating against political ideology.”
At least, that’s the marketing spiel. There’s nothing to see just yet, but apparently, some users will be invited to test out an early version of the social media platform in November, with a greater rollout planned for the first three months of 2022. But Trump’s platform already faces a predictable set of challenges. See, Florida Man isn’t the first to attempt an alternative social media platform.
Both Gab and Parler are alternatives to Twitter and Facebook and both platforms have a very specific sort of issue — they’re unable to attract users in numbers that let them compete with other social media platforms in any meaningful way. Then there’s also GETTR to throw into the mix — all of these share a very similar audience and user base.
TRUTH Social seems to be relying on the popularity of Donald Trump himself as a drawcard, in addition to drawing its user pool from those disillusioned with how Twitter does business. But there is considerable overlap there and many of those users are already playing elsewhere. This might see Trump’s platform facing an even more limited number of users.
The Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which is behind this incoming platform, also intends to launch a video-on-demand service that provides “…’non-woke’ entertainment programming, news, podcasts, and more.” That means we might have another headline for you soon — Florida man takes on YouTube.
Source: BBC