The ex-president wants to shake up social media with Truth Social from now on, and the interest seems to be remarkable. Skeptics don’t trust the euphoria and at most expect an echo chamber.
Truth Social – Icon of Donald Trump’s new social media platform
Truth Social is live. Donald Trump had the app for his own media platform released for American users in time for Presidents’ Day in Apple’s online store – and the interest seems to be remarkable, at least visually. In the short term, the Twitter-like product is said to have topped the download hit list of free offerings on this sales channel, and amid initial technical difficulties, hundreds of thousands were reportedly put on waiting lists to later complete the registration process.
The stock market also showed something like Trump euphoria in early trading on Tuesday. There, the Digital World Acquisition share had initially recorded price gains of up to 15 percent in brisk trading before the enthusiasm waned somewhat. The special purpose vehicle, which went public under ominous circumstances and conditions, has been causing price capers like meme shares for a while since it became known that it would like to invest in the Trump Media & Technology Group, which was founded a year ago, and thus indirectly in Truth Social.
Banned from Twitter, harassed by prosecutors, abandoned by the auditor – the American ex-president and his entourage obviously want to defy all resistance, mobilize their supporters and defy the established social media companies with the offer of “unrestricted freedom of expression”. However, this is so ambitious that neutral observers do not trust Trump’s jubilant reports that have just been spread. Finally, alternative platforms like Gettr and Parler have found little traction so far. Echo chambers of supporters of a narrow spectrum of political opinions have only a limited appeal.