Alternative social media networks have seen a surge of attention in the last year but have struggled to maintain consistent growth in users.
GETTR, Truth Social, and Parler all present themselves as viewpoint-neutral platforms that offer a free-speech-focused alternative to giants such as Twitter and Facebook. The promise of unfiltered speech has made them appealing to political conservatives. However, a review of data from third-party auditors revealed the companies have struggled to keep users returning to the website.
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GETTR, the website founded by former Trump administration official Jason Miller, has seen the number of total unique visitors to its website diminish by 60% yearly. The website went from 1,911,000 total unique visitors in its first month, July 2021, to only 784,000 in July 2022, according to data provided by the media analytics firm Comscore to the Washington Examiner. App-based unique visitors, or users visiting the website via a mobile app, started high at 1,336,000 unique visitors in July 2021 but have fluctuated over the last year from 251,000 in Sept 2021 to 608,000 in July 2022.
Parler, a conservative alternative founded in 2018, reported slightly smaller declines in total unique visitors. The “free speech alternative” only had 496,000 total unique visitors to its website, a 42% decline year-over-year. App-based visitors also fell from 300,000 in July 2021 to 59,000 in July 2022.
Truth Social, backed by former President Donald Trump, saw a smaller dip in users, partly because it is newer. Truth Social launched with 3,260,000 total unique visitors to its website in February 2022, only for its numbers to decline to 2,545,000 in July 2022. App-based total unique visitors went from 2,274,000 in February to a maximum of 2,598,000 in March. The numbers declined to 1,248,000 in June but then surged to 2,009,000 in July.
In terms of total downloads, Parler has had 11.4 million since its launch, according to data provided by SensorTower. GETTR has 7.3 million downloads, while the newer Truth Social reported 3.3 million.
It is possible that the platforms are not seeing stronger growth because they lack the liberal users already at home on established networks. “These platforms are struggling because there is no counterargument,” said Luke Lintz, brand consultant at HighKey Enterprises. “Social media platforms thrive on controversy, polarizing topics, debates, and questioning.”
While third-party metrics offer some insights into the websites, they are limited in scope due to the various limitations on web traffic that these companies have experienced.
For example, not every company has had an app version of its website available since its release. Truth Social launched its iPhone app in February 2022 and its web app in May but had its application for an Android app declined by Google in August. Parler was also removed from the App Store and Google Play Store in January 2021 due to the website’s connection to the Jan. 6 rioters, only to be added to both platforms later. GETTR has been available on both platforms since its release.
The comparisons from third-party auditors are not reliable, Samuel Lipoff, the chief technological officer at Parler, told the Washington Examiner. He notes that GETTR, Parler, and Truth Social’s web presence was hindered by limited availability on mobile devices, which affects the number of actual users on each platform.
When asked for comment, GETTR claimed it was seeing monumental growth after a few controversial political figures joined the platform. “GETTR remains the world’s fastest-growing social media platform and today has over 6 million users in 192 countries,” Ebony Bowden, global communications director at GETTR, told the Washington Examiner. “At the start of September, we saw signups increase by 287% after both former Brexit leader Nigel Farage and former professional kickboxers Andrew and Tristan Tate joined the platform.”
While these networks have struggled to maintain their traffic, their relationship to politics plays a significant part in future growth. “It’s difficult to predict how the apps will perform in the long run; however, they will likely see a surge in adoption around major U.S. political events,” SensorTower Mobile Insights Strategist Stephanie Chan told the Washington Examiner. This was most clearly illustrated when Truth Social saw an uptick in downloads after the Mar-a-Lago raid on Aug. 8, according to data.ai.
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Other events that often drive subscriptions appear to be instances of censorship in which politicians or notable public figures are banned from Twitter or Facebook. GETTR claims it saw a surge of interest after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-SC) was banned from Twitter and after Joe Rogan said he would move to the platform. Truth Social’s connection to the former president has also given it an advantage. The website is now a go-to location for seeing any public statements from Trump about the events of the day.
