This Word Means: Truth Social

“Delighted to be on Truth Social! Looking forward to interacting with all the passionate voices here and engaging in meaningful conversations in the times to come,” he wrote in his first post.

What is it?

Truth Social is a social media platform owned by Trump Media & Technology Group. US President Donald Trump is the biggest shareholder in this company (though he later put his shares in a trust controlled by his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr).

Truth Social was launched in 2022, after Trump was banned from sites like Twitter (now X) and Facebook following the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters (his accounts were later reinstated).

While Truth Social was launched on the Apple App store in February 2022, it became available on Google Play Store only in October of that year, after it agreed to stricter moderation policies for content that could potentially incite violence.

In terms of user interface, it is similar to X, where users can post ‘truths’ that can be reshared and replied to.

How is Truth Social different from other social media platforms?

Truth Social positions itself as a ‘Big Tent’ platform where all sorts of views can be expressed with minimal censorship from the platform, but is dominated by conservative voices. Also, it is the only social media platform whose owner holds a tremendously powerful political position.

“Our objective is to offer all users with an inviting, nonpartisan “Big Tent” of ideas. Our objective has always been to provide a social platform in the spirit of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, for free thinking and the ability to share ideas freely. Our preference is that the removal of users or user-provided content be kept to the absolute minimum. Our preference is to leave choices regarding what is seen and who is heard to each individual person,” the site says on its website.

Trump remains Truth Social’s biggest draw. He often posts his positions on global affairs and other important issues on the platform, which are then reposted on X, generally after a few hours.

His position as President of the United States and owner of the social media site has also raised concerns of conflict of interest — the more attention-grabbing his posts are, the more money the platform makes. Also, everyone who buys shares in the platform is adding to the US President’s personal wealth.

How has Truth Social performed?

According to The New York Times, since it was created in 2021, Trump Media has incurred losses and “struggled to generate revenues from advertising on Truth Social or through video streaming. Last year it reported $3.6 million in revenue — 12% less than the year before — and $130 million in expenses. Much of the costs apparently related to a merger and its advent as a public company.”

“Nonetheless, it has $777 million in cash, apparently generated through the merger and sale of stock, mainly to Yorkville. Its market value of $6.6 billion is nearly 2,000 times its 2024 revenue,” the NYT report said.