President Trump’s Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, was suspended in January 2021 to prevent “the risk of further incitement of violence”. Jason Miller, Trump’s 2020 campaign advisor and spokesperson claims that Trump will be launching his own social media platform: 

“I do think that we’re going to see President Trump returning to social media in probably about two or three months here, with his own platform. And this is something that I think will be the hottest ticket in social media, it’s going to completely redefine the game, and everybody is going to be waiting and watching to see what exactly President Trump does.”  

Trump is frustrated that he is not prevalent on social media right now. As time moves forward under Joe Biden’s presidency, the spotlight has dimmed on Trump. Designing a social media app that would allow him to post for the world, would quickly grab Americans’ attention. However, his “game-changer” platform, has been described in very few details. The most popular social media apps started with their own unique ideas but have begun to adopt characteristics and features of one another. Instagram now features “reels”, a TikTok spin-off, Facebook and Instagram have collaborated their messaging, and “stories” are now found on almost every platform. What will be different about Trump’s new platform, besides the fact that he will be allowed on it?  

Twitter is one of the most popular social media apps in the world and is a great tool for journalists to get quotes from politicians. With the release of Trump’s new platform, will Twitter users start to convert to his platform? If other politicians refuse to make the switch from Twitter to Trump’s platform, he will simply be speaking to a small audience of supporters with no infliction of controversy. Shannon McGregor, a professor at the University of North Carolina who researches social media’s role in politics believes that Trump’s predictions for his platform will not be as “hot” as he thinks they will be. “Even if he is on some alternative platform, that’s not going to be where journalists are and where other political players are. And so, it’s still not going to have that same impact in the way that he was able to have with his tweets.” 

Brooke Kruger is a Dakota Student News Editor. She can be reached at [email protected]