There’s a war going on in social media. Government is applying pressure to platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to censor “misinformation.”
There are many examples, but conversations around COVID are especially prone to being censored. For example, for much of 2020 and 2021, talking about how the virus may have leaked from a lab would get you banned by big tech. You can read more about this in “Why the Threat to Free Speech Suddenly Looks Much Bigger” by FEE.org.
For many of us, seeing conversations censored is disturbing. We don’t want to use platforms that police speech. We crave open discussion.
Alternative social media platforms like Rumble, Substack and Gab are benefiting from the big tech crackdown. These platforms focus on free speech and take a much more laissez-faire approach to content.
And they’re growing fast. Rumble is a YouTube alternative. It grew from 2 million monthly active users (MAUs) in the third quarter of 2020 to 36 million MAUs in the third quarter of 2021. That’s impressive 18x user growth in just a year.
I think this is a unique point in history to invest in social media. We’re seeing a split occur where it’s possible that conservatives and liberals will each have their own social media platforms. This isn’t ideal because it encourages an echo effect. But the fact that big tech is censoring dissident voices makes it basically unavoidable.
I invested in Gab back in 2017, and I think the investment has serious potential. I’m actively looking for more alternative social media platforms to invest in.
A few alternative platforms to investigate include Odysee, Rokfin and CloutHub. Mainstream venture capitalists will largely ignore these free speech platforms because they’re controversial. That means it’s easier for us individual angels to access quality deals. And it also means that valuations are going to be artificially suppressed.