Truth Social, the social media platform launched by former US President Donald Trump, has turned out to be a disaster, according to the BBC. Trump had announced this platform as an answer to Twitter, which banned the former US President after his supporters attacked the US Capitol last year. Twitter said Trump made false claim that the presidential election had been stolen, which triggered the violence on January 6, 2021.
The BBC tested the Truth Social platform built by two engineers and said a waiting list of nearly 1.5 million are unable to use it. It was launched on February 21 this year.
Truth Social isn't available on Android phones, web browsers or to people living outside the US. The app can only be downloaded on an iPhone in the United States.
According to Similar Web, Truth Social is not among the top 100 top downloaded apps, and the list is ruled by YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
American news website Axios said that Truth Social is plagues by "tech issues", which is preventing the app from being released to all users.
Trump loyalist Devin Nunes had said that the app will be “fully operational” by the end of March.
A Business Insider staffer was able to register on the app and allowed to use after clearing the waitlist after three weeks. The reporter said that Truth Social did not contain much original content and has very limited number of accounts.
A big topic, like the Russia-Ukraine war, was getting minimal engagement.
Like Twitter, this platform also fills the feed of a user with posts from users they follow. But these posts are called "truths" and are mostly linked-out articles on websites, according to Business Insider. It is overrun by bots, the publication said.
News agency Reuters reported on Monday that the two engineers - Josh Adams and Billy Boozer who were the company's chiefs of technology and product development - have resigned at a critical juncture for the company's smartphone-app release plans.
