4/9/21
Donald Trump's plan to create a new social media platform is doomed to fail, experts have told Insider, with the former president unlikely to extend his following beyond a dwindling number of his remaining supporters. Kicked off Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube after the Capitol riot on January 6, the former president has spent the last few months in the digital wilderness, resorting to issuing press statements via email. Now, says his aide Jason Miller, he's planning to come roaring back with his own social media network within "about two or three months." "I do think we're going to see President Trump returning to social media in probably about two or three months here with his own platform," Miller said in March. "This is something that I think will be the hottest ticket in social media. "It's going to completely redefine the game, and everybody is going to be waiting and watching to see what exactly President Trump does, but it will be his own platform," he said. Axios reported that Trump's team is in conversations with taking over or partnering with smaller apps, including one called FreeSpace, which only counts a few thousand downloads to date. However, some experts doubt that the project will ever get off the ground.
"Donald Trump says a lot of things. Before he was elected, he said he would rarely leave the White House and that he wouldn't have time to play golf and that he'd give up Twitter if elected," Peter Loge, an associate professor at George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs, told Insider. "Until the talked-about social media platform is up, running, and being used, I wouldn't assume it exists." Even if Trump does get off the ground, experts believe that Trump will have a difficult time recapturing the success he enjoyed on Twitter. "This [new] social media network is in my professional judgment unlikely to grow Trump's following," said Professor Stephen A. Greyser, a marketing and communications expert at Harvard Business School. "It is dominantly oriented [on] maintaining his existing following." "There are hundreds of social media services out there, all competing for limited user attention and limited ad dollars. Trump would presumably start with a significant base, but would likely have trouble expanding that base beyond his current fans."
labor411.org
www.businessinsider.com
www.cheatsheet.com
www.rollingstone.com
