Jason Miller’s new social media app Gettr without Trump

Former Trump spokesperson Jason Miller has launched a new social media application that targets those who dispute how major social media applications such as Twitter review content on their platforms. But it seems that the application needs to overcome serious obstacles to truly compete with other mainstream technology companies.

According to reports, this application named Gettr was quietly released in the Apple and Google App Stores in mid-June. Politico, it released news about the application release. Gettr’s mission statement describes it as “fighting against the abolition of culture, promoting common sense, defending freedom of speech, challenging social media monopolies, and creating a real market for ideas.” Many current hot topics on the app reflect pro Trump’s slogans and sentiments include #keepamericagreat, #defendfreedom and #maga.

However, despite the app’s ambitious nature, it appears to have encountered similar challenges as other “free speech” social media apps, such as speak, Since its launch this year, it has promised not to review the content posted by users on its platform. First: at least for the time being, Donald Trump is not using Gettr-but these “free speech” social media platforms first appeared because they were the majority of the major social media platforms in response to Trump’s January ban . In addition, the app is a counterfeit of Twitter in many ways, it does not have many users yet, and it is already home to blatantly racist posts that will be deleted on most other platforms.

Trump is clearly absent

Because Trump is Prohibit all Main platform In January of this year, in order to encourage the riots in the US Capitol, he suggested that he hoped to reappear on a new social media application so that he could say whatever he wanted. This has left a major gap in the social media ecosystem for Trump’s followers, who are still active online but no longer have regular tweets from the former president to share and respond to.In the months after he was banned, it was mentioned that Trump Social media has dropped sharply On Twitter and Facebook.

In early June, CNBC reported that Trump was considering joining Miller’s unnamed app at the timeBut so far, Trump has not used the application, nor has he indicated that he will join the application.Bloomberg White House Correspondent Jennifer Jacobs Twitter says Trump does not intend to join Gettr And “will not have any financial interest or participation in the application”. On the contrary, he still “plans to build a separate platform.”

According to an excerpt from Michael Wolfe, Trump reportedly rejected an offer to join Parler, a “free speech” social media application aimed at conservatives because the company refused to prohibit negative comments on him. people. Upcoming book on Trump.

Trump’s own efforts to create a platform that can directly interact with his followers have also failed. In May, Trump launched a website called “From Donald Trump’s Desk”. More like a blog Not a powerful social media platform. The website only obtains a small part of the views Trump has obtained on Twitter and Facebook in the past. In early June, less than a month after it started, Trump shut it down.

According to Politico’s data, Gettr currently has more than 1,000 downloads in both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store—compared to major social media networks, this is not much (Twitter has 17 million combined downloads According to the data company SensorTower, just last month, Apple and Google were on Apple and Google). Having said that, the app is only in Beta testing and has not been widely publicized until today.

The app appears to be a counterfeit of Twitter

Gettr is a fairly blatant counterfeit of Twitter. Even its name sounds a lot like “Twitter”.

Just compare these apps side-by-side and you will find the similarities: at the top of the two apps, Gettr will prompt the user to post by asking the user “What’s new?”; Twitter asks, “Happened what?”. Both Twitter and Gettr put their feeds on the left and their trend panel on the right. Gettr provides users with a “verified” icon with a red and white V, which looks a lot like Twitter’s blue and white “verified” “Check mark.

Twitter screenshot

Gettr even allows some users to import their old tweets so that their Gettr profile can reflect their Twitter feed.

Twitter declined to comment on whether Gettr’s allowing users to import their old tweets into the new social media feed violates its terms of service.

Racist content has become a trend

Obviously racist labels have become popular on Gettr-highlighting a common problem with “free speech” social media applications, which have limited policies on hate speech.

Two tags with the word n ​​have appeared on Gettr’s hot topics, and they link to a large number of anti-Semitic slander and racist comments against black people.

Gettr currently reserves the right-but “does not promise”-to delete “objectionable, obscene, obscene, obscene, dirty, pornographic, violent, harassing, threatening, abusive, illegal or other objectionable or inappropriate content” , In accordance with the terms of service posted on its website.

Gettr did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

as a Social media researcher pointed out, Gettr’s policy on permitted and disallowed content is very vague. Moreover, blatant racist posts have appeared on the app, which proves that its lack of content review will be a problem for the company.

So far, Gettr does not seem to be where Trump will return to social media. But this is another example of the anti-Twitter and Facebook social media platforms we have seen, and it emerged in the vacuum of Trump’s appearance on major networks-it shows how hard these platforms will try to keep up with and indeed have a promise Of mature websites mitigate harmful content.