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For months, former President Donald Trump has promoted the nascent social media company’s forthcoming flagship app, Truth Social, as a platform where free speech can flourish without the restrictions imposed by Big Tech.

At least seven other social media companies have promised to do the same.

Gettr, a right-wing alternative to Twitter, founded last year by a former adviser to Mr. Trump, sees itself as a censorship haven. This is similar to Parler – another Twitter clone sponsored mainly by Rebekah Mercer, who is a big donor to the Republican Party. MeWe and CloutHub are similar to Facebook, but with the veil that they encourage conversation without restriction.

Truth Social was supposed to go live on Presidents Day, but the launch date was recently pushed back to March, although a limited test version was announced recently. Making full use of a regulatory investigation a proposed merger of its parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group, with a publicly traded company. blank check company.

If and when it opens its doors, Mr. Trump’s app will be the newest and most prominent in the tightly packed universe of social media companies that have emerged in recent years, promising to establish a parallel internet after Twitter and Facebook. , Google and other mainstream platforms have started blocking hate speech.

Millions of users have signed up to this so-called sub-tech or alternative platform, impressed by the promise of a space free from what they consider censorship of conservative voices. However, the business situation for these companies has already proven shaky.

“There’s an audience and a market, but it’s not huge,” said Shannon McGregor, professor of journalism and media who works on social media platforms at the University of North Carolina. “Most people don’t want a version of the internet where everything happens.”

Most sub-tech companies follow the same pool of users, many of whom may spend only a fraction of their social media time on politically partisan causes. Also, right-wing pundits who have attracted massive audiences already have large, well-established online fan bases on mainstream social media, making it unlikely that they will migrate to an entirely new platform unless excluded.

And since most traditional Silicon Valley investors aren’t in a rush to fund sub-tech, the growth of these companies is dependent on small financial backers investing in partisan lawsuits.

Rumble, the oldest of these alternative social media companies, founded in 2013 to compete with YouTube, reported that its revenue has nearly tripled in the past year. Still, its revenue in the first nine months of 2021 was less than $7 million. By comparison, YouTube generated close to $9 billion in ad revenue in its most recent quarter.

Alternative platforms claim tens of millions of users have signed up. For many of these companies it is difficult to verify user numbers or how they identify users because they are often not tracked independently. But experts said it’s unlikely to pose a serious competitive challenge to mainstream social media platforms with billions of users. For example, Facebook has more than 1.9 billion daily active users and 211 million daily active users Those who see ads on Twitter.

Weiai Xu, an assistant professor of communications at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, said many people who claim they want a social network that appeals to their political ends are not ready to leave Twitter or Facebook. That’s why major platforms continue to be important vehicles for “partisan users” to get their message across, Mr. Xu said.

Gettr, Parler, and Rumble relied on Twitter to announce the signature of a new right-wing personality or influencer. Parler, for example, used Twitter with post a link to an announcement former First Lady Melania Trump was making her platform a “social media house”.

Mark Weinstein, founder of MeWe, a platform with 20 million registered users and positioning itself as an option to Facebook, said that alternative social media companies mostly benefit from politics.

“The problem with Truth Social, Gettr and Parler is that they are Twitter rivals and are echo chambers of a narrow political spectrum,” said Mr Weinstein. “Echo chambers don’t have broad appeal.”

Mr. Weinstein said MeWe is targeting people who want to protect the privacy of their online posts rather than stalk users for their political beliefs. MeWe’s basic offering is free but paid. certain subscription services. His venture raised $24 million from 100 investors.

But since political reasons drive the most engagement for alternative social media, most other platforms are quickly embracing such opportunities. This month, CloutHub, with only four million registered users, said can be used to raise money for the platform protest truckers He’s from Ottawa.

It wasn’t Mr Trump far behind. “Facebook and Big Tech are trying to destroy the Truckers Freedom Convoy,” he said. (Facebook’s parent company Meta, removed several groups associated with the convoy for violating its rules.)

Mr Trump added that Trump Media will allow truckers to “communicate freely via True Social when we launch – very soon.”

Of all the sub-tech sites, Mr. Trump’s venture may have the best chance of success if launched not only because of the former president’s star power, but also because of his financial heft. In September, Trump Media agreed to a blank check or merger with Digital World Acquisition, a special-purpose acquisition firm that raised $300 million. The two organizations raised $1 billion from 36 investors. Custom Placement.

However, none of that money can be used until regulators complete their investigations into whether Digital World violated securities regulations in planning its merger with Trump Media. Meanwhile, Trump Media, which is currently worth more than $10 billion at the stock price of Digital World, is trying to recruit people to build its platform.

He commissioned employers to reach out to Parler’s former employees, according to documents seen by The Times. While reviewing the questions, recruiters sought to learn more about “social media outlets such as Parler and Gab that serve as Facebook/Twitter alternatives,” and asked candidates if they would face difficulties monetizing or managing content on Truth Social’s platform.

Former California Republican congressman Devin Nunes, whom Mr. Trump had chosen to serve as CEO of his company, declined requests for an interview.

Toronto-based YouTube rival Rumble has raised relatively large amounts of money from billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel and his investors. Trump supporterand JD Vance’s venture fund, under Mr. Thiel’s patronage, Who is running for a Senate seat from Ohio.

Rumble also plans to go public through a merger with a special purpose buyout company. SPACs are shell companies created solely for the purpose of merging with an operating entity. The deal, organized by Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, will provide Rumble with $400 million in cash and a valuation of $2.1 billion.

site said in January The number of monthly active users increased from two million two years ago to 39 million. He has signed several content deals, including. one Providing video and streaming services to Truth Social. Rumble representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

At least one other social media outlet is hoping to boost the former president’s popularity among conservatives to build his business. Started on July 4 and led by former Trump adviser Jason Miller, Gettr had hoped to remove Mr Trump before he decided to open his own venture. In January, Gettr advertised Mr Trump’s latest rallies as “the place to watch”.

Mr. Miller said in a written statement that the former president “may join GETTR when he’s ready”. The site claims to have five million users and tens of millions of dollars in cash. In a recent interview, Mr. Miller denied the previous claim that Gettr had raised $75 million.

Parler, the platform popular with Trump supporters, is still being stripped of its role after violent protests by thousands of angry fans of the former president at the US Capitol in January 2021. Downloads of Parler’s app fell 88 percent last year after Apple and Google removed from app stores and Amazon cut their web services after the riot, according to SensorTower, a digital analytics company.

Parler, who said he raised $20 million from investors in January, has since returned to the Apple Store. However, internal turmoil continued. Last year, Parler was fired John Matze, one of its founders, from the position of CEO. Mr Matze said he was fired after a disagreement with Ms Mercer, the daughter of a wealthy hedge fund manager who was Parler’s main backer, over how to deal with excessive content posted on the platform.

Parler’s spokesperson, Christina Cravens, said: He said the company has always “banned violent and provocative content” and invested in “content moderation best practices.”

Content will also be difficult to moderate for Truth Social, which has been unable to send messages since early 2021, when its main star, Mr Trump, Twitter and Facebook removed him from their platforms. incitement to violence Depends on the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Mr. Matze, with its main banner Mr. Trump, said it was unclear whether Truth Social would pass subscribers signing up to read the former president’s letters.

“Trump is building a community that will fight for what he represents that day,” he said. “This is not social media for friends and family to share pictures.”