The sudden departure of two senior executives from a social media platform backed by former President Donald Trump is raising questions about where it is going from here.
Technology chief Josh Adams and product development chief Billy Boozer left Social Truth after a rough start in February for its iPhone app, Reuters reported Monday.
CBS News technology reporter Dan Patterson said the company behind Truth Social, Trump Media & Technology Group, has struggled to attract technology professionals and build its development team, making it difficult to launch. .
“It’s a really competitive space to launch an app, and even President Trump doesn’t have the competitive juice to really climb,” he told CBS News.
Social Truth has been touted as an alternative to Facebook, as well as a new online destination for Trump supporters and other political conservatives. It launched in late February and quickly became one of the most popular apps in the Apple App Store.
However, the site’s popularity declined in the coming weeks, in part because there are already other social media apps targeting right-wing Americans like Rumble, Parler and Gab, Patterson said.
Truth Social, which is not available on Android devices, was downloaded about 872,000 times during its first week, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower. Stephanie Chan, a mobile information strategist at Sensor Tower, told TheWrap that Social Truth now has about 1.2 million downloads.
Concerns about the future of democracy in the United States
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Trump announced plans to create Social Truth after being permanently removed from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in 2021. He was banned from services after it was said that his speech helped incite the January 6 attack on the building of the United States Capitol. In December, Trump said Social Truth would be “a platform that will not discriminate on the basis of political ideology.”
The so-called special-purpose acquisition company called Digital World Acquisition had planned to buy Truth Social and Trump Media & Technology Group, but the deal is pending as U.S. regulators investigate the company for possible breaches of value standards.
Digital World aroused investor concern last week after revealing that its auditor needed more time to review the company’s financial figures before submitting its annual report. While companies often ask for filing extensions, the delay was underscored the painful February release of Social Truthwhich was affected by interruptions, a long waiting list and difficulties in accessing the application.
“Build and scale [social media] The platform is very different from creating a website or an app, “Patterson said.” It takes resources, it takes money, it takes time, and most of all, it takes technological talent, which is scarce. “
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