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https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/is-the-truth-social-network-a-dud/
IS THE “TRUTH SOCIAL” NETWORK A DUD?
— My Firsthand Experience With the Truth Social Network
As I have mentioned before, it took almost two weeks for me to get into the “Truth Social” social network once I had registered with them on my iPhone during the first week of March of 2022. If I recall correctly, my wait list number was 1,090,253, or something close to that. I don’t remember the exact number now. I made a Facebook timeline post regarding my initial experience with Truth Social around the middle of March. Oddly enough, I can no longer find that particular post on my Facebook timeline. Or maybe it isn’t so odd, considering how Facebook chooses to operate. Many of you reading this commentary will already understand what I mean by this.
Then, after my Truth Social account request had finally been approved during the second week of March — it does require a lot of patience — and I had gotten into their social platform, when they announced that they were going to begin verifying accounts so that users could have a red check mark displayed next to their name, I submitted a verification request for my account. Well, after a few days, I received an email from Truth Social in which they outlined the criteria which they use to determine whether or not to verify a person’s account.
Before proceeding, let me point out that joining Truth Social, and being a verified user, are two separate things. In other words, anyone can make an account request, be accepted into their social network, and make posts and interact with other users, without ever being verified. Being verified is an additional optional step which confirms that a person is who they say they are. As occurs on some other social networks, its purpose is to engender trust in that particular user so that other users will interact with them, and have confidence that the posts — or truths — which are being made are true, and are actually being posted by that person or entity.
But here’s the thing. What I have discovered thus far in my almost one month with Truth Social, is that insofar as verified accounts are concerned, the people behind Truth Social are really only interested in verifying high profile conservative influencers, such as Sean Hannity, Dan Bongino, Kevin McCarthy, Dan Scavino, Maria Bartiromo, Breitbart News and the like. Two of Trump’s sons — Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump — also have verified accounts, as does Melania Trump. Even The Babylon Bee — which a lot of people often quote, as if what the Bee says is true, when it is really all satire — has a verified account there. Country music star Travis Tritt also has a verified Truth Social account.
A few high profile personalities for whom I expected to find verified accounts when I just conducted my Truth Social search, but for whom I did NOT find verified accounts, include Ivanka Trump, Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, Glenn Beck, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Kayleigh McEnany and Kellyanne Conway. Conway does have a Truth Social account, but it is not a verified account. From reading certain news reports from recent months, what I also discovered is that prior to its official launch to the general public, the Truth Social team sent out special invitations to many high profile VIPs, encouraging them to join Truth Social. This endeavor even included sending out invitations to some of former president Donald Trump’s most vocal critics.
Oddly enough, even though Truth Social was specifically set up by and for former U.S. president, Donald Trump, so that he could have a free hand to express his views without any kind of censorship, to date, Trump himself has only made one post there. Weird. He — and his views — is supposed to be the main attraction and the magnet which draws millions of other conservatives to Truth Social; and yet the man hasn’t even posted anything yet. I am not sure what to make of that.
In contrast to the aforementioned VIPs, sad to say, my initial impression after one month’s usage of the Truth Social network is that all the rest of us are viewed as small potatoes, and are basically ignored; meaning that we don’t get much exposure — if any at all — on Truth Social. We most certainly will never be considered for a verified account. This became clear to me when I read the email which was sent to me by the Truth Social staff, which just so happens to have “@vip.truthsocial.com” in the email address. In my view, this email basically says to me “You are not important enough.” Following are the full contents of the email. Decide for yourself if I am wrong:
—– Begin Quote —–
A red check on TRUTH Social lets users know that an account of public interest is genuine and not an imposter, impersonation, or parody.
In order to receive a red check your account must be authentic, active on TRUTH Social, and noteworthy. We will consider noteworthy people and organizations in the following categories:
* Government
* Brands, companies, and nonprofits
* Journalists and news organizations
* Sports (including esports)
* Entertainment
* Activists, influencers, and organizers
For an account to be verified, you must be an active user of TRUTH Social. TRUTH Social users will be considered active users upon completion of the following steps:
* Your account must have a complete profile name with a profile image.
* Your phone number and email address must be confirmed.
* Your account must be actively posting content.
To be verified on TRUTH Social, you will be asked to provide the following information to confirm your identity:
* An official website that confirms you or your organization’s identity.
* A valid official government issued identification document, like a passport or driver’s license.
* An official email (i.e., a branded email address that matches your official website).
Or
* Announce on your verified Twitter or Instagram account where users can find you on TRUTH Social. The announcement must not be removed for six months.
—– End Quote —–
To prove my point, consider the fact that even though I have been a member of Truth Social for about a month now; and even though I have made over sixty posts thus far, many of which are my politically-oriented poetry, some of which even support Donald Trump; and even though I have openly declared that I am a Christian in my user profile; to date, I have only acquired four followers. That’s right, folks; only four people in a month’s time. I don’t know any of them on a personal level. For all I know, some of them may not even be real people. They could be bots. Furthermore, even though I have advertised my Truth Social account on Facebook multiple times, none of my 5,000 Facebook friends have joined me on Truth Social.
As if the previous points aren’t already enough to discourage my ongoing participation on the Truth Social platform, consider the fact that no one has liked, commented on, or shared — what Truth Social calls “retruth” — any of my posts. It is as if no one is even seeing them, just as now occurs on Facebook. After all, it seems to me that if other Truth Social users were actually seeing my posts, surely I would have received at least a few likes and comments by now. Yet I have yet to receive a single one. Why do I believe this? Because as I mentioned earlier, I have specifically shared poetry — as well as some graphics, videos and commentaries — which are clearly conservative and/or Christian in nature. Unless I am wrong, conservatism is supposed to be a strong attractor on Truth Social. So why aren’t the fish biting?
The discouraging truth of the matter is that the ONLY interaction I have seen, is when I have commented on OTHER users’ posts, and those other users happen to be big name accounts such as Sean Hannity, NASA, Cute Animals Doing Stuff, Science Videos, etc.
In case you have missed one of my main points, it is this: It should not matter if a person is a VIP, high profile politician, popular social influencer, well-known celebrity or not. If any individual is willing to provide whatever proof the Truth Social network requires in order to verify that they are who they say they are, then Truth Social should be willing to verify their account. By failing to do so, and by only verifying VIP accounts, they are in fact already practicing discrimination, and dividing their users into different classes on their network. They are creating an elite class, and a peon class, and they are no better than any other social network which does the same thing. This ought not to be, in my opinion.
So the aforementioned has been my personal experience on the Truth Social social network thus far. Unless the situation changes soon, I honestly cannot justify spending a lot of time on their platform. As bad as Facebook has become for those of us who embrace Conservative and Christian values, it still gives me more exposure — as little as it may be — than Truth Social, and that is not saying a lot for Facebook either.
