Thousands of people have signed up for former President Donald Trump’s new social media app, Truth Social.
The platform went live in the Apple app store, with a number of US senators already sharing their accounts.
Truth Social had a previous launch date of Monday, February 21, to coincide with President’s Day but a full rollout may not take place until March.
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By early Monday morning, a number of high-profile personalities were sharing on Twitter that they have set up their Truth Social accounts.
Many others also appearing to be joining who did not pre-order the app from the Apple Store.
High profile personalities join:
Among those to have already shared their accounts include Republican North Carolina congressman Madison Cawthorn.
Others are Trump-endorsed Arizona gubernatorial GOP candidate hopeful Kari Lake, far-right Arizona Senator Wendy Rogers.
Also, Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ryan Fournier, founder of Students for Trump also joined.
Similarly, others prominent conservatives who have joined the “free speech” social network include Charlie Kirk.
Charlie Kirk is the founder, Turning Point USA Founder.
Fox News’ Sean Hannity and Dan Bongino are also on the platform.
Launch encounters hitches:
However, the launch encountered some hitches as many people were paced in lengthy queues to create accounts.
Also, others reported seeing error messages once their profiles have been set up.
Meanwhile, Trump is one of the persons who have signed up for Truth Social.
Trump’s son announces launch:
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., had shared a screenshot on Twitter of his father’s first post on Truth Social.
“Get ready! Your favorite President will see you soon!” the post from Trump read.
Trump’s Social Media App looks like Twitter:
Truth Social was created by the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG).
Meanwhile, the social media app is almost identical with Twitter as it takes the look of Twitter’s interface.
The screen shot shared by Trump’s son confirmed previous reports that Truth Social will look like Twitter.
And it does!
Why?
Recall that Twitter had banned Trump from the social media site.
Twitter had banned Trump over fears he would use it to incite his followers to commit violence in the wake of the January 6 attack.
Speaking ahead of the Apple app store rollout, Devin Nunes said he hopes Truth Social will get wide acceptance.
He said those who have been “booted from social media” over the last few years will likely embrace the app.
Nunes is a former Congressman – California Republican – who resigned to become chief executive officer of TMTG in January,
According to him, “It’s just it’s actually very moving for me to see people that are on the platform that have had their voice canceled—And that’s our main goal here is to give people their voice back.”
Social media experts previously questioned if Truth Social, yet another right-wing “free speech” app in a similar vein to Gab, Gettr, and Parler, will prove to be a success if only conservatives use it.
“There’s a whole social network for beer enthusiasts where they can come together and post reviews of beers,” Kristina Lerman, a research professor of computer science at the University of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute, told Time.
“It’s great that such a community exists where like-minded people can meet each other. But that doesn’t mean that kind of niche community will be attractive to the mainstream.”
TMTG has been contacted for comment.
Implication:
The launch of Truth Social is a good development as it will help break the monopoly grip of some social media by their owners.
This launch will also provide users with more options to connect with people.
Similarly, should it improve and get wide acceptance, Truth Social will serve as a platform for the voiceless, According to Trump.
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