Trump announces the Trump Media & Technology Group and TRUTH Social, a social network coming in Nov. to “stand up” to Big Tech, in the App Store for preorder

The former president has been banned from several platforms. — Silenced by many major platforms …

ABC News 2021-10-21

Context & Ripple Effects

After being barred from major platforms, Trump was reported to be searching for a new social network, with related coverage warning that a move away from mainstream services would concentrate his audience in more insular conservative communities. The TMTG and Truth Social announcement turns that search into a branded platform effort with App Store distribution.

Later coverage shows the immediate test was not simply launching: Truth Social opened to a limited beta group of roughly 500 testers, while analyses identified user migration from mainstream apps and rivalry with Gettr and Parler as its central hurdles.

First-order effects

Trump Media & Technology Group gains a direct channel for Trump’s online presence, rather than relying on the major platforms that banned him.
Truth Social enters the App Store pipeline and begins competing for the same politically aligned users already served by Gettr and Parler.

Second-order effects

Gettr and Parler face a sharper fight for a finite pool of users seeking alternatives to mainstream social networks, making audience retention more important than simply offering a similar anti-Big-Tech position.
Truth Social’s ability to build an active network depends on persuading users to shift behavior from established services, the adoption barrier identified in the later assessment of its launch challenges.

Third-order effects

If prominent figures respond to platform bans by building proprietary networks, political social media becomes more fragmented around distinct communities rather than shared mainstream forums.
App-store availability becomes part of platform governance: new networks can establish their own moderation identity, but still depend on distribution channels outside their control.

The trend: Platform enforcement is driving high-profile users toward owned social networks, trading mainstream reach for greater control over audience and rules.

Discussion

@reallizusa Liz Harrington on x
🚨President Donald J. Trump Announces Trump Media & Technology Group🚨 “I created TRUTH Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech... I am excited to send out my first TRUTH on TRUTH Social very soon...” https://twitter.com/...
@mikaelthalen Mikael Thalen on x
Was just able to setup an account using the handle @donaldtrump on ‘Truth Social,’ former President Donald Trump's new social media website. Although the site is not officially open, a URL was discovered allowing users to sign up anyway. https://twitter.com/...
@santucci John Santucci on x
This press release reporters are getting is legit - confirmed to me by sources close to former President Trump. He is launching a media company with a social media platform called “TRUTH Social”. https://twitter.com/...
@drewharwell Drew Harwell on x
Anyone can create an account on Trump's social network TRUTH Social using a publicly available link. I literally just registered “mikepence.” The site hasn't even launched yet and it's already this vulnerable https://twitter.com/...
@bradheath Brad Heath on x
The twenty-third rule for Trump's planned social media site is that you can't use it to make fun of his new social media site. https://twitter.com/...
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Trump SPAC deal. So. Many. Thoughts. But, just for starters: 22 page deck without a word of who's involved. Also: Just because SPAC deal announced, doesn't mean the deal closes. No PIPE mentioned.
@drewharwell Drew Harwell on x
On Trump's new social network, TRUTH Social, you can post TRUTHs, which are like tweets, or Re-TRUTHs, which are retweets. There's also a TRUTH Feed and notifications so you can know who's interacting with your TRUTH's https://twitter.com/...
@lachlan Lachlan Markay on x
The terms of service for Trump's new social media site contain a non-disparagement clause https://twitter.com/...
@cd_hooks Christopher Hooks on x
Hoo boy https://twitter.com/...
@bradheath Brad Heath on x
Trump's new company trademarked the name Truth Social in July. It also registered the name Trump Plus, which would include movies and TV series and, well, a lot. https://twitter.com/...
@bradheath Brad Heath on x
And the contact address is Mar-a-Lago. https://twitter.com/...
@bradheath Brad Heath on x
The terms of service also include a forum selection clause pretty similar to the ones Trump's lawyers just got done arguing are unenforceable. (They've lost on that in one case and two others are pending.) https://twitter.com/...
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
The funny thing about government speech regulation is that it regulates speech
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
The basic idea of Trump's social network pitch - that social networks will segment based on politics like other media - would be illegal under various GOP 230 reform proposals, including the Florida law with the theme park exception. (Unless you consider Mar-a-Lago a theme park.)…
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Trump social media SPAC thing filed SEC paperwork this morning, but it's basically just the press release again. Nothing of substance, including management, etc. So far, this is a shell buying a shell.
@mikaelthalen Mikael Thalen on x
A fake Ron Watkins account has of course already been created as well https://twitter.com/...
@drewharwell Drew Harwell on x
The Trump Media & Technology Group's pitch deck definitely includes all of the relevant historical events concerning political segmentation between October 1996 and Jan. 8, 2021 https://twitter.com/...
@noupside Renee DiResta on x
Soon i'll have a whole iphone home screen dedicated to niche right wing apps that largely go nowhere.
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
Gonna go ahead and confidently say that TechCrunch, the NYT, Variety, Chevy, Fox News, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution do not have accounts on Trump's new Twitter clone or agree to be used in its marketing materials https://twitter.com/...
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
This feels to me like when Trump says he's gonna sue someone, and doesn't.
@benjamint0001 BenjaminT on x
Why the hell is Trump Media merging with a company whose Chairman & CEO was also the CEO of a Chinese firm based in Wuhan?! @pepesgrandma https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@frankluntz Frank Luntz on x
“Additionally, Trump Media & Technology Group intends to launch a subscription video on demand service (TMTG+). TMTG+ will feature ‘non-woke’ enterainment programming, news, podcasts, and more.” 👉🏻 https://tmtgcorp.com/...
@alexstamos Alex Stamos on x
Apple App Store policy team. https://twitter.com/...
@killedbygoogle @killedbygoogle on x
“In the App Store” How soon we think this is gonna get hacked? https://abcnews.go.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
In his announcement tonight, Trump says: “We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced.” Minus the “favorite” part, which is subjective — the rest is true.
@jack Jack⚡️ on x
i guess @jack is taken https://twitter.com/...
@williamturton William Turton on x
Chances of Truth Social being hacked within 24 hours of its launch are, conservatively, nearly 100%
@noupside Renee DiResta on x
“TRUTH Social is now available for Pre-Order (???) in the Apple App store. TRUTH Social plans to begin its Beta Launch for invited guests in November 2021. A nationwide rollout is expected in the first quarter of 2022.” Ok but is TRUTH an acronym? https://insiderpaper.com/...
@drewharwell Drew Harwell on x
Trump's social network is where families will come together to have an amazing time and share their viewpoints of the world. “We welcome these varied opinions,” Trump's social network said https://apps.apple.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
And it is pretty wild when you think of it. Twitter kicked off a sitting President of the United States from its platform, but doesn't have a blanket Taliban ban.
@samstein Sam Stein on x
GETTR Done [ducks tomato] https://twitter.com/...
@acyn @acyn on x
Fox already promoting Trump's new blog https://twitter.com/...
@randirhodes Randi Rhodes on x
Trump says he's starting his own social media company Digital World Acquisition Group is merging with Trump. DWAG is an international “blank check” company incorporated in the Cayman Islands with headquarters in Wuhan, China WUHAN CHINA!!! https://abcnews.go.com/...
@tomwatson Tom Watson on x
They'll abandon this “group” in about three weeks. https://twitter.com/...
@pkafka Peter Kafka on x
Trump SPAC is a delicious and exciting failure waiting to happen in full public view. So it will probably eclipse AAPL market cap within months. https://twitter.com/...
@iansherr Ian Sherr but spooky on x
Some not so subtle digging at @jack in the Truth Social promo info on the App Store. https://twitter.com/...
@pkafka Peter Kafka on x
Obviously Trump's newco will destroy Twitter and Facebook. And CNN. Disney *and* Netflix seems like a stretch goal but if that works then yeah. They can definitely go for Amazon, Microsoft and Google's cloud business. Ht @WilliamTurton https://twitter.com/...
@kim @kim on x
Trump is launching TRUTH social network to compete with Facebook which is being renamed CONSEQUENCES.
@drewharwell Drew Harwell on x
Trump's social network TRUTH Social has a rule banning “excessive use of capital letters”: https://twitter.com/...
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Obviously there will be a ton of redemptions, meaning the $293m isn't real. Only chance it succeeds is if Trump fans plow in & bump price. But, even if so, not a word on who's running it, when it launches, etc. Maybe it's a backdoor way to kill SPAC biz.

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