Donald Trump's platform isn't the hit the twice-indicted former President had hoped for as another top executive of the company resigned. Alex Gleason, the founder of Soapbox Technology, didn't last long as he was hired as the head of engineering for Truth Social in January 2022. Former Rep. Devin Nunes gave up his political career to join the platform as CEO.
However, everything Trump touches dies. Trump launched Truth Social after he was deplatformed on major social sites after he incited (allegedly!) the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, but it's not going well for him.
Reuters reports:
Gleason is the founder of Soapbox Technology, which provides open-source technology for "decentralized" social media platforms that operate on independently-run servers and provide an alternative to Twitter and Facebook.
Gleason said in an interview that he is leaving TMTG to work on Soapbox full-time, developing technology for connecting multiple decentralized platforms.
TMTG hired Gleason in January 2022 to adapt Soapbox's technology for its own needs, eventually using it as the front-end technology - which users see and interact with - for the Truth Social app.
Truth Social has struggled to show strong growth in the number of users since its February 2022 launch.
Since then, Trump has been reinstated on the more widely-used platforms from which he was ousted, including Facebook and Twitter, and Truth Social's user base has remained tiny compared to the growth targets TMTG laid out in November 2021, when it told investors the app would reach 56 million users by 2024 and 81 million by 2026.
Six hundred seven thousand monthly users is an embarrassing amount of traffic. But the site's base there might be one of the reasons why. If you start an account and you're not a Trump supporter, you'll immediately be called a pedo and a groomer. Its AI heavily censors the site, but most of the reportable content goes without moderation.
Truth Social has an estimated 607,000 monthly users, according to data from Similarweb.
Trump had 5.71 million followers on Truth Social as of July 17, compared to the more than 88 million followers he had on Twitter when the platform suspended him.
TMTG had in October 2021 announced a deal to go public by merging with blank-check firm Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) (DWAC.O) but the merger has been in doubt as investigations by the Justice Department and the U.S. securities regulator have delayed its closing.
According to financial disclosures in April, Trump made less than $201 from Truth Social. TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS. A friend of mine said he made more money from his last garage sale.
