Mike Lindell, founder of My Pillow and friend of Donald Trump, has taken blow after blow from political pundits, had leftists boycott his brand, and was witness to one teenager’s tantrum. Instead of retreating to count his dollars, he used his cash to create a new social media platform. Ah, the beauty of instant karma in the face of insanity.
The new site is called Frank and makes its debut April 19. And as you may have surmised by the name, it reflects Lindell's urge to protect the First Amendment. Recently, Lindell released a video statement: “On Monday morning at 9 a.m., we’re going to have the biggest launch … I call it a Frank-a-thon.”
The Frank-a-thon
Trump loyalists, Republicans, and Libertarians have anxiously awaited an alternative platform that isn’t bent on stifling opinions, thoughts, and facts that don’t comply with liberal community standards. That’s not to say Frank has no community standards, but they will allow for a difference of ideology. Moms everywhere may appreciate this particular standard of use explained by Lindell:
“You don’t get to use the four swear words—the C-word, the N-word, the F-word, or God’s name in vain. Free speech is not pornography; free speech isn’t 'I’m going to kill you.'”
Last year, Pew Research Center conducted a survey on social media usage and trends and came to a not-so-startling conclusion. A majority of Americans think social media sites censor users based on political viewpoints. In 2021, those numbers must be well into orbit.
Although few details have been forthcoming, the buzz is that Mr. Lindell will be “franking” live all day with new users. As the pillow-fighter explains his creation: “It’s like a YouTube Twitter combination; you’ve never seen anything like it.” He has so far left a lot of details to the imagination. And one social media CEO wasn’t amused as his free-speech-promoting website has yet to rival Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook. Andrew Torba, the head boss at Gab, is feeling the pressure of another rival. He refers to his own site as a “free speech” safe space and called Frank a “rip-off.” Furthermore, he has insinuated poor old Lindell is clueless about his latest enterprise: “I don’t think Mike understands what he is getting into with these projects, but he will soon enough.”
Frank
Mr. Lindell has apparently done his best to create a platform for everyone and firewall the ability of technology giants to take down Frank. He owns outright the servers that host the site, and he is confident protections are in place. Will this have the tech giants hacking and whacking and attempting to stop the pillow man for sport or spite?
Lindell hopes to see 10 million folks sign up on day one and eventually be the go-to site for 1 billion influencers, podcasters, independent journalists, and folks who like to rumble on a keyboard.
Time will tell if he is successful in his venture. How Franking Interesting?
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