The biggest conservative news outlets are seeing a precipitous decline in traffic to their websites, and it's showing no sign of abating despite 2024 being a high-profile election season.On Wednesday, Daily Beast media reporter Justin Baragona tweeted traffic data compiled by media analyst Howard Po...
  • coyotino [he/him]@beehaw.orgEnglish
    31·
    5 months ago

    I thought this would be about Truth Social, but it’s mostly about stuff like Breitbart. But then at the end:

    Baragona observed that Trump’s Truth Social platform also saw a significant decline in unique users. In May of 2024, Truth Social had just 2.7 million unique users, which is a 14% drop compared to May of 2023. This marked the platform’s second-worst performing month since its launch.

    So that’s dropping, too. I wonder where all the users are going?

    • herrcaptain@lemmy.ca
      18·
      5 months ago

      That’s a very good question as it sure doesn’t feel like misinformation has declined much in this timespan. My guess would be that the traffic is finding its way to smaller websites, like those used in astroturfing campaigns, though the article speculates that Facebook’s algorithm changes may have lessened the flow of traffic to rightwing sites, and I’d guess that’d include these one-offs. Maybe X is picking up the slack there? They’ve certainly gotten fully unhinged and pandering to this crowd.

      Could YouTube be another possibility? I think the algorithm is going strong there in favor of extremist content. My disabled dad, for example, spends his days jumping between watching shows like Cops, and watching YouTube videos of sovereign-citizen types harrassing cops. That’s mixed in with all the other garbage his algorithm throws at him. Over the years he’s gone from economically centre-left to fully buying into the Trump bandwagon (and we’re not even American).

      Whatever the answer, I think people are still getting this info from somewhere and apparently in droves.

      • ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
        7·
        5 months ago

        It’s definitely X. They left X because they were prevented from engaging in hate speech and held responsible for their actions. Musk created a right-wing hate safe space, and the audience for these users is much larger on X. There’s also a handy way to identify your right-wing brethren with a blue check while they harass perceived liberals.

        All in all, no need for Truth Social anymore.

        • jaspersgroove@lemm.ee
          4·
          5 months ago

          I don’t spend enough time on Facebook to bother with any of that shit, I just notice it’s incredibly prevalent whenever I do happen to open it up

    • Barry Zuckerkorn@beehaw.org
      14·
      5 months ago

      Rage isn’t sustainable. Enthusiasm is down across the board, and the question will be whether enthusiasm among left-leaning voters has wanted waned to the same degree as among Trump’s base.