Plan B Forum

'Is Google trying to f— me?' Trump reportedly asks amid Truth Social woes

Donald Trump's floundering social media platform, Truth Social, is in the news again, this time for a remark that the former president has reportedly been making about the app's absence from the Android store.

Rolling Stone reports that, in recent weeks, Trump has been asking his inner circle: “Is Google trying to f—me?” The Truth Social app is currently only available on Apple devices, meaning billions of Android users worldwide aren’t able to access the platform on their smartphones — something Trump seems to think is an intentional slight from the California tech giant.

“He keeps hearing about how Google and YouTube have it out for him … including on Truth Social, and I think he’s taking [it] seriously,” an unnamed source told Rolling Stone.

The nascent social media site, which is owned by a corporation headed by Trump loyalist and former California Rep. Devin Nunes, has had a turbulent few months of existence. Its "soft launch" in February was beleaguered by various glitches and long wait lists, and by the end of March, the site was reported to be seeing just 1.9 million visits per week. That figure represents less than 1% of the number of daily visits on Twitter — the social media platform Truth Social is meant to compete with.

But is Google actually trying to "f—" Trump? A source in the Rolling Stone article said that Truth Social hasn't even submitted an Android app to Google for review, and the publication points out that job postings on Trump's platform seem to suggest that such an app is still in development.

The Rolling Stone article also states Trump recently called upon his son Donald Trump Jr. to try to “fix” what is wrong with the app's performance. Sources in that article referred to Trump Jr.'s entry into the picture as a "rescue mission" to save the platform.

Part of the problem, undoubtedly, is that the market is already saturated with conservative social media apps. Parler and Gettr, two such apps, were created to be safe havens (safe spaces?) for conservative users who want to say what they want without being banned under content moderation policies on mainstream apps like Twitter and Facebook. Despite that appeal, both apps have garnered relatively small user bases since their inception.

Additionally, many theorize that the very concept of apps like Parler, Gettr and Truth Social is inherently flawed. Older folks, who account for a large portion the conservative base, don't use social media, and the apps lack broad appeal — liberals aren't going to download them with the intention of using them seriously. That leaves you with a mostly young user base stuck in an echo chamber with no "libs" to "own," which doesn't exactly lend itself to entertaining or intellectually stimulating online discourse.

Our advice for Donald Trump Jr.: get going on submitting an Android app to Google. That seems like a good jumping-off-point for your rescue mission.

Joe Guy wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 3:13 am

So, if Donald runs again in 2024 (or DeSantis or some other idiot) I'll probably just be voting against the republican candidate instead of FOR someone I truly believe in.

BoSoxGal wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 3:27 am

Maybe you could comfort yourself in the disappointment by focusing on the fact that you’re voting for democracy over authoritarian rule of the minority?

Joe Guy wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 3:13 am

The above is an example of the type of thing that Trump says and/or appears to believe that makes me wonder how anyone supports him. The problem is that I can't think of anyone from the democratic or any other party I would consider supporting. So, if Donald runs again in 2024 (or DeSantis or some other idiot) I'll probably just be voting against the republican candidate instead of FOR someone I truly believe in.

MajGenl.Meade wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 6:24 am

Bit harsh on Melanoma, that. No?

ex-khobar Andy wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 10:40 am

MajGenl.Meade wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 6:24 am

Bit harsh on Melanoma, that. No?

Well that's what I thought when I saw the title of this thread but then I thought - no, she's in it up to her ears (I should maybe rephrase that) so she deserves what she gets. Anyway, do we know that he is, in fact, fucking Stupid?

MajGenl.Meade wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 6:24 am

Bit harsh on Melanoma, that. No?

Joe Guy wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 7:43 pm

MajGenl.Meade wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 6:24 am

Bit harsh on Melanoma, that. No?

I won't believe you if you deny editing your response from "hard" to "harsh".

MajGenl.Meade wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 9:36 pm

I'm not as genned up on Trump's tumescence as you Joe . . .