Could Trump’s TRUTH Social Compete Against Big Tech?

Donald Trump will be releasing his app, TRUTH Social, today. It is also, coincidentally, President’s Day in the US.

Created by  Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), founded just this here very month of February in 2021 by the former US President, TMTG is designed to be a SPAC, (special-purpose acquisition company) an intention that was intended to facilitate it becoming a publicly-traded company. One that has merged with Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC). DWAC and TMTG’s merger allows for the former to be a public traded company.

Back to TRUTH Social. Why, you might be asking, would Trump, as Chairman of TMTG, launch his own social media platform? The answer to that starts with his rather abrasive relationship with other social media platforms. Except it is also really not that simple. To understand TRUTH Social, one must go back to Trump’s use of social media during his presidency. Many a thesis has been written about this.

Trump, it is stated, tweeted over 25,000 tweets as President. The White House ended up saying these tweets should be treated as official statements. The thing is @realDonaldTrump with over 88.9 million followers posted a slew of controversies. The concept of free speech in the US is rather different from ours. Take, for instance, Mark Zuckerberg’s response. “Trump says Facebook is against him. Liberals say we helped Trump. Both sides are upset about ideas and content they don’t like. That’s what running a platform for all ideas looks like.

The result was no one moderated Trump’s tweets because they were a matter of “public interest.” This, despite the House of Congress attempting to rein him in for what turned out to be racist comments. He also retweeted content from accounts that were not exactly democratic-friendly. He also shared COVID-19 misinformation. The problem wasn’t just his tweets. It was also the retweets, some, by himself, others of people full of raise from him, some so obscure it would not be hard to believe he basically trawled Twitter to find them.

Inevitably, Trump was eventually ushered out of all the big social media platforms. It was at this point that he elected to start his own platform, TRUTH Social. Truth, however, is relative in this case. It could simply mean what he decides is truth, will be the truth. And we all know there are three sides to any story.

The idea behind TRUTH Social is to create alternative media. Alternative to Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, aka the platforms that blocked him. It could also be the one platform he could use to rally his supporters come 2024. Trump has made it no secret he wants to run for president again.

Now that Trump has declared war on Big Tech, the world is waiting to see how this platform looks, how it works, and possibly, how original it will be not to mention who will join it and the kind of content they will create. So far, signs indicate that it looks and acts a bit like Twitter. The tweets will be known as ‘truths’ with, of course, the usual share and like buttons underneath. The Apple Store – the app is only available here, describes it this way. “Think of a giant outdoor event tent at your best friend’s wedding. Who’s there? The combination of multiple families from all over the United States, and the world.”

The app the world is waiting for, however, may not materialise today. TIME indicated that the launch has been pushed to March.