The Truth About Social
When Donald Trump had been blocked from social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, he started his social media outlet—Truth Social. Earlier this year, the company that started Truth Social went public. Lots of optimism for the site at that time, especially since Trump used Truth Social exclusively, even after the bans were lifted and he could use Twitter—now X, Facebook, and Instagram again.
But at the same time Trump appeared on the X platform in a two-hour live interview with X owner Elon Musk, he began posting on Twitter/X…first with a paid ad, then with some other content.
And to no one’s surprise, the stock price for Truth Social’s public company cratered.
Part of that was due to what Reuters calls weak quarterly results, as well as Trump’s dwindling lead in public opinion polls and election betting markets.
But the real hit came from Trump using X, and not Truth Social exclusively. Some suggested that he should have had the interview with Musk on Truth Social, or at least both platforms; after all, 1.3 million tuned into X that night. But there is an election to win…and he obviously felt he had a better chance of reaching voters on X…notwithstanding the fact that he could have gained tens of thousands of new Truth Social account holders by holding the interview there.
Some say merely by using Twitter/X, Trump is breaching his fiduciary duty to Truth Social shareholders. Overall, Trump Media Truth Social stock has lost more than half its value since going public this past March. This obviously didn’t help.
