MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2021) A potential return of Donald Trump, who has become one of the most polarizing figures of our lifetime, to social media is sure to produce an enormous effect on the social media world, social media experts told Sputnik, adding that since the fanbase of the former US president is "very loyal and loud," the social media world will definitely become more noisy and divided.
Donald Trump who was banned by major social media giants, has recently launched an official website www.45office.com, which is due to become a platform for his supporters to stay in touch and to recall his time in office.
"The Office of Donald J. Trump is committed to preserving the magnificent legacy of the Trump Administration, while at the same time advancing the America First agenda. Through civic engagement and public activism, the Office of Donald J. Trump will strive to inform, educate, and inspire Americans from all walks of life as we seek to build a truly great American Future," the statement from the website says.
One can contact the former president and former first lady, Melania Trump, as well as "share" one's thoughts, "schedule request and even "request a greeting" through the website.
The news comes amid reports that Trump was considering partnering with the new platform called FreeSpace to create his own social media network. His spokesman has already said that the former president would be returning to social media in a few months with his own platform that was going to attract "tens of millions" of new users and "completely redefine the game."
The plans to create his own platform emerged after Trump was banned by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube in the wake of the January 6 Capitol Hill riot. The reason cited for the ban was his address to the protesters who seized the Capitol building in Washington to prevent Congress from certifying the Joe Biden election victory. While calling on the protesters to behave peacefully and go home, Trump, however, reiterated 2020 election fraud allegations, which was deemed an incitement.
Sputnik has reached FreeSpace for comment, but has not yet received any comment so far.
LOOKING AT ALL OPTIONS TO HELP HIM EXPEDITE THE PROCESS
Robb Fahrion, a marketing and branding expert, who is also a partner and co-founder of Flying V Group Digital Marketing, believes that, if the former president manages to build a platform and network that scales efficiently, then "the possibilities are endless."
"Trump's return to social media will have a huge effect on the social media world.� We are talking about one of the most polarizing figures of our life times. There will be many people that will follow him to whichever platform he goes to, but, at the end of the day, the reach of the platform is what matters. If users are not able to have the same reach/influence as they do on channels like Instagram or Twitter, there may be a consideration for usage of "non-Trump" platforms," he told Sputnik.
Fahrion is not surprised that Trump was eyeing FreeSpace.
"Trump is looking for a platform that will allow him to get up to speed as quickly as possible, regardless of the rhetoric. Trump is not going to be able to build a social media platform that rivals Facebook or Twitter quickly, so it is no surprise that he is looking at all options to help him expedite the process," he said.
SOCIAL MEDIA WILL BECOME BOTH MORE NOISY AND DIVIDED
Since Trump has already been banned from Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, even if he is to return to social media, "it will be limited to those few platforms he can still participate on," Neal Schaffer, CEO of PDCA Social agency and a digital and social media marketing consultant, told Sputnik.
"However, he has a very loyal and loud fanbase who will certainly take to social media to help spread his message. In other words, social media will become both more noisy and divided as a result," he said.
According to Schaffer, the ex-president feels that whatever social network he can control, he and his followers will "hijack it and transform it to become their vehicle."
"So I think the current language employed is not as important as his perceived ability to control the medium," Schaffer who is also the author of The Age of Influence book, said.
Schaffer believes that the possible joining of Trump of any social media platform would attract more subscribers to the platform which the former president chooses.
"Absolutely [there will be more subscribers]! There are many who feel that social media has not been fair to them, so just as many joined Parler, many will join FreeSpace. If Trump flexes his financial muscles and aggressively promotes his presence on FreeSpace through advertising, membership to FreeSpace will only increase even more," he said.
Fahrion added that while the future of the platform may be unclear, one can be assured of a huge influx of new subscribers similar to what the world saw with Parler in 2020.
"Trump's base is big AND very loyal, which means there will be plenty of subscribers that follow him wherever he may go," he concluded.
