Analysis of Google search data reveals that online searches for Trump’s new social media platform under the name of ‘Truth Social’, were 600 percent higher than searches for Snapchat on the day after the former U.S. President officially launched the new platform.
Trump Social is to be launched by Trump Media & Technology Group and the concept is an attempt to provide a social media service – one that seeks to challenge politically neutral services like Twitter and Facebook by serving up content with a particular right-wing world view.
While this is the view of most commentators, Trump himself said the platform would “stand up to the tyranny of big tech”, accusing them of silencing opposing voices in the U.S.
Trump was banned (and remains so) from most social media outlets for his inflammatory views relating to the riots within the U.S. capital earlier in the year.
The analysis comes from cybersecurity experts VPNOverview.com, who find that searches for Truth Social gained over seven times more searches than Snapchat. Moreover, the proposed right-wing social media platform received nearly ten times more searches than WhatsApp on the 21st October 2021, equating to 800 percent more online interest than WhatsApp in one day.
While interest could not last, the pattern of clicks searching for the socially biased social media platform have been uneven. The U.S. states where Truth Social saw the most interest were Wyoming, followed by Alaska and Idaho. West Virginia, New Hampshire and Florida. These are states that have supported right wing candidates more recently.
A spokesperson for VPNOverivew.com tells Digital Journal: “The sheer volume of Trump’s controversial comments on social media were a defining point of his presidency. Now that his multiple social media bans have led him to create his own platform, it’s fascinating to see how dramatically it has gained interest over the social media apps we use so frequently: Whatsapp and Snapchat, in just one day.”
The comment continues: “It will be interesting to monitor over the coming days and weeks whether Trump can sustain this interest, and gain enough users to make Truth Social a true rival for the Facebook-owned platforms that dominate our culture.”
Trump Social has yet to launch officially. The platform is expected to be made available in early 2022.
