Truth Social, former President Donald Trump’s long-awaited alternative social media platform launched with a big thud last week, but today I was finally able to activate my account.
So is it any good?
Short version: Not yet, and it won’t get there if the tech team doesn’t get the kinks ironed out — and if Trump doesn’t take the lead as his own platform’s premier user.
When Truth Social launched on Monday, February 21, I downloaded the app and signed up immediately. I was hoping for some mean tweets, maybe reconnect with some old Twitter friends.
What I got was position 167,933 on the waitlist — a number that was never once updated over the next ten days.
I hadn’t given up but I was losing patience.
I was expecting the worst on Thursday when Truth Social on Thursday sent out a content-free email blast headlined “Waitlist Update” that didn’t actually provide any updates about the waitlist.
But then this morning I received another email (two, duplicates, actually) saying my account was ready and to follow the link to activate it.
So I did. The link took me to my profile — a page that doesn’t exist. In fact, the Truth Social website doesn’t do anything at all except direct people to download the app. You can either use the iPhone app (sorry, Android users, at least for now) or nothin’.
Why did the email take me to a nonexistent webpage on a nonfunctional website? Who knows. It seems like the different Truth teams aren’t exactly in sync.
Once logged into the app, it took a few tries to get my profile updates to save, but eventually, I got it to work.
The app provided me with 20 or so suggested users to follow, and I hit the Follow button on several of them, including Trump, himself.
Trump’s only post so far is two weeks old and only says, “Get Ready! Your favorite President will see you soon!”
Still waiting for those mean tweets, Mr. President, but I’m hanging in there.
I poked around and while the app is thoughtfully laid out and easy to navigate, it’s basically a stripped-down version of Twitter. That’s a compliment, by the way, and unlike older conservative social media rivals like Gettr and Parler, Truth Social has a private Direct Message feature. Unfortunately, DMs aren’t yet activated.
The search function is solid but incomplete. You can search just fine for profiles or hashtags, but searching for words without a hashtag yields zero results no matter what you search for.
I got my first follower shortly after logging on, but near as I can tell “he” is likely a bot. Thousands of followers, lots of bland posts, and zero interactions just scream “BOT!” I followed back anyway.
I didn’t mind the wait to get my account working, but not even Donald Trump — one of the world’s great promoters — has posted anything other than that single “Truth” about how great Truth Social is going to be.
Soon, I hope.
In the meantime, there just isn’t a whole lot of there, there. If you’re looking for links from big names like Dan Bongino, you’ll find them on Truth, same as you’ll find them on Gettr, Parler, and Gab. If you’re looking for some fun conversation, it looks like the user base just isn’t big enough at this point.
Truth promised something like Twitter, but without all the left-wing propaganda and censorship, and that’s what they’re trying to deliver. It just isn’t all working, but I do appreciate that Truth Social is taking time rolling out features until they’re ready.
It sure would be nice, though, if Trump would get out in front and lead with some of those classic mean tweets we’ve waited for these last 14 months.
Source: PJ Media
