Truth Social Faces Steep Decline as Trump Media Shares Tank
Truth Social Faces Steep Decline as Trump Media Shares Tank
Truth Social sees a dramatic drop in user traffic this summer while Trump Media shares plunge. What's causing the platform's struggle amidst rising rivals? Get the full story!
Truth Social, the social media platform backed by former President Donald Trump, is experiencing a challenging summer, marked by a significant plunge in user traffic and a concurrent drop in its parent company's stock value. Reports indicate that online traffic to Truth Social plummeted by approximately 36 percent last month, following a similar decline in June, according to data cited by The New York Times from digital tracking firm Similarweb.
This downturn for Truth Social contrasts sharply with the performance of its competitors, such as X (formerly Twitter), owned by Elon Musk, and Meta's Threads, both of which have seen an increase in user engagement over the same period. Howard Polskin, founder of TheRighting, a website that monitors conservative media, expressed his surprise at the severity of the decline. "When you think of how much Trump uses Truth Social as a megaphone you would think the numbers would be skyrocketing," Polskin remarked, noting that he had been tracking the platform's traffic for years.
The troubles for the platform extend to its financial standing. Trump Media & Technology Group, Truth Social's publicly traded parent company, saw its shares tank by 8 percent, hitting a two-week low as it reported its latest losses. This stock market dip erases gains made in the preceding weeks, reflecting investor concerns.
Adding to the controversy, Trump Media has been selling subscriptions to its Truth API, offering near-instantaneous alerts to Trump's social media posts at a staggering cost of up to $100,000 per month. Critics, including several Democratic lawmakers, have raised serious concerns that these subscriptions could facilitate insider trading. They argue that early access to Trump's posts on market-moving topics, such as tariffs or foreign policy, could give subscribers an unfair advantage. Irene Aldridge, head of Able Alpha Trading, starkly commented on the situation, suggesting, "If this was the CEO of a public company, this would be jail time."
Neither Truth Social nor Trump Media & Technology Group has yet responded to inquiries regarding the declining traffic numbers or the criticisms surrounding the Truth API subscriptions, with the White House referring questions to the company. The steep decline in traffic and the financial woes paint a challenging picture for the future of Trump's social media venture.
