Last year Donald Trump surprised at least some of the world by actually announcing his own social media platform:, Truth Social. The jury’s still out on whether it’ll include Blackjack. And hookers. But it might just, since it’ll offer users “…an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating against political ideology.”
Now it appears we’ve got a launch date for the app. According to a listing on the Apple App Store, the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) will launch Truth Social on 21 February this year.
Timing Truth Social
Bear in mind that this date is not official (yet). But Reuters, speaking to an anonymous source, confirmed the late February launch for the social media competitor. Both Apple and TMTG declined to comment on the apparent launch date.
When Trump first announced his new venture (and the “…’non-woke’ entertainment programming, news, podcasts, and more” apparently incoming), we outlined the challenges it would face upon launch. There are already several competitors in the space, targeting much the same audience as Truth Social. Gab, Parler, and GETTR are all alternatives designed to appeal to a more right-wing audience.
Trump’s effort, at least so far, sounds like it’ll attempt to include everyone. Whether it actually does remains to be seen, but the platform is also destined to face opposition just because Trump is involved. The social media alternative is based on Mastodon, an open-source platform that replicates most of Twitter’s features. Mastodon’s creators have already given Truth Social a warning for not following its terms of service.
And then there are the folks who will attempt to oppose the platform on general principles. There may well be digital explosions. Expect the February launch of Trump’s new megaphone to be fraught with issues, both internal and external. Also, expect it all to be breathlessly dissected by commenters who just came to see a train wreck. Whether that’s actually what happens… well, we’ll see.
Source: Reuters