You may or may not have heard about President Donald Trump's social media app, Truth Social. The app encountered a lot of trouble during its initial days. The problems became so bad that people lost interest come early March.
Even the former President doesn't use the app he wanted to develop.
However, Truth Social has seen quite a resurgence in popularity recently.
According to a recent report from Fast Company, Truth Social has recently become the top free iPhone app downloaded on the US Apple App Store, per Sensor Tower's Mobile Insights Strategist Stephanie Chan.
Twitter, meanwhile, is ranked as the second most downloaded app.
Truth Social Resurgence Details
Fast Company's report mentioned that the recent popularity of former President Trump's Truth Social is directly related to Elon Musk recently buying out Twitter for $44 Billion.
Jack Dorsey, Twitter's co-founder, voiced his approval of Musk's acquisition of the social networking site, saying that Musk "is the singular solution I trust."
"Twitter as a company has always been my sole issue and my biggest regret," Dorsey said on his Twitter account. "It has been owned by Wall Street and the ad model. Taking it back from Wall Street is the correct first step."
Dorsey also said that Musk's goal of creating a platform that is "maximally trusted and broadly inclusive" is the right one, adding that it's also the reason why he chose Parag Agrawal to be the company's CEO.
Musk stated that he plans to make it "better than ever" by adding new features to the social media site, making its algorithms open source to increase trust, and combating cryptocurrency scams.
He also plans to beef up Twitter's content policing measures which include censoring or banning certain users for posting hate speech or inciting violence, which may be the reason why many have chosen to download Truth.
Although Musk suggested he is a "free speech absolutist," according to Digital Rights Watch chair Lizzie O'Shea, Musk's version of free speech only benefits the rich and powerful.
"Musk's style of free speech absolutism will tilt the scales in favor of the rich and powerful who can silence or bully critics," O'Shea said, per The Guardian. "What Musk really seems to want is freedom from accountability."
O'Shea then added that Musk's proposed approach to content moderation would likely make Twitter a less safe place for many people to freely speak their minds while allowing "powerful disinformation and propaganda campaigns" to spread unchecked.
Where To Download Truth Social
If you're one of the people who wish to jump ship or are just curious about Trump's social media app, you'll need an iOS device; Truth Social is only available for Apple devices at this time, with no Android version in sight.
Here's what you need to do to get Trump's social media app:
- Head to the Apple App Store and either search for "Truth Social App" or click this link which will directly take you to the app's page.
- Once you see Truth Social's page, find the "Purchase" button below the app's name. As the app is free to use, users may see "Get" instead of "purchase."
- After tapping the necessary button, wait a few seconds to finish the installation.
- Once installed, open the app and sign up for an account.
Truth Social functions much like Twitter, but is advertised as an app that is "free from political discrimination" and is open to anyone worldwide. It also offers users a unique perspective by posting a "Truth," "Re-Truth," photo, news story, or video link.
