I started using the internet in 1987, when I was at Columbia University and through that connection was given an internet email account. The ‘information superhighway’ was still restricted to only government and military employees, then was opened up to academic staff, and finally became a communication device for anyone with a desktop computer in 1994.
Remember Netscape? This was the first internet browser with a graphics interface which went public in 1994. By 1998, you could find not only desktop computers but laptops in every office, and just about every machine was running an operating system called Windows, which was imbedded in the internet browser desktop known as Internet Explorer in 1995.
As opposed to traditional communication platforms like radio and TV, the internet was touted as being both more modern and more efficient because it was interactive and did not require the kind of government regulatory activity and licensing that was done by the Federal Communications Commission, i.e., the FCC.
Want to start your own programming over the internet? Simple enough – just buy your own domain for a few bucks, rent some space on an ISP, hire someone to create a website or do it yourself and away you go.
I put up my first website in 1995. It was a site which allowed users to post complaints about computers and other internet technologies which didn’t work. I took the site down after six months or so because I didn’t have time to read through all the emails I received.
The first internet company to promote interactive websites big-time was AOL, which allowed users to have one-on-one chats with other users online. I don’t recall when to-and-fro communication became the primary focus of most internet websites, but this was what the so-called social media turned out to be.
All that being said, what made the internet and social media not just an information superhighway, but the most trafficked superhighway of all time was when it became not so much a way for people to meet, greet, exchange pics and other personal news, but when the internet, particularly social media, became the primary method for anyone and everyone who had something to sell.
So, for example, in the last quarter of 2022, advertising generated more than 90% of the revenue on Twitter, ads were also the chief monies that were earned by Facebook, TikTok and other social media sites. As of today, Facebook has a market capitalization of $521.6 billion. That’s not chopped liver, even in my book.
Which brings me to Donald Trump’s last rant on his social media channel which I reproduce in full right here:
Just watching FoxNews. They are sooo bad, just like the Globalist Wall Street Journal and the now, way down, New York Post. They are desperately pushing DeSanctimonious who, regardless, is dropping like a rock. He’s even down 20 points in Florida, which was third worst in Covid, & where I got 1.2 million more votes than he did. RINO Mark Thiessen, a Bush flunky, is constantly on pushing DeSanctus, giving bad info. Even said I “lost Iowa last time around,” I won BIG. He sucks, & so does FoxNews!
So, here we have Trump putting out what has to be the most vulgar and disgusting narrative that any President or former President has ever done, along with taking a huge swipe at what used to be his ass-kissing media partner, Fox News.
I have to assume that Trump’s Truth Social blast is an attempt to capture enough internet traffic to challenge the financial strength of social media behemoths like Twitter and Facebook, which will then give him a leg up in the 2024 Presidential campaign.
But it’s a strategy which isn’t going to work at all, and here’s the reason why.
The only reason that anyone accesses Truth Social is to see and read what Trump has to say. You think anyone who uses the information superhighway gives one rat’s damn about what Eric Trump says?
The whole point of social media is that it’s social – it’s a way for people to socialize and connect with friends, family, and anyone else who happens to be online. And the connection doesn’t have to just be words which is how people connect using a phone.
This is not why Trump has an internet social media presence. His online operation is solely for the purpose of giving him a platform for his abuse, his rants, and his lies.
The good news is that Truth Social will disappear when Trump disappears, which thanks to Joe and all those vote-stealing Democrats will happen in due time.
Comments