"Gettr-ing" Deep Insights from the Social Network Gettr

TL;DR

This study analyzes Gettr, an alternative social network, revealing its content, structure, and user behavior, highlighting its role as a platform for right-leaning content and misinformation, with limited external data access.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of Gettr's platform structure, content, and user incentives, offering new insights into its role in political discourse and misinformation.

Findings

Gettr hosts predominantly pro-Trump and conspiracy content.

The platform's structure is asymmetric and centered on right-wing leaders.

Users join due to perceived free speech, but misinformation is prevalent.

Abstract

As yet another alternative social network, Gettr positions itself as the "marketplace of ideas" where users should expect the truth to emerge without any administrative censorship. We looked deep inside the platform by analyzing it's structure, a sample of 6.8 million posts, and the responses from a sample of 124 Gettr users we interviewed to see if this actually is the case. Administratively, Gettr makes a deliberate attempt to stifle any external evaluation of the platform as collecting data is marred with unpredictable and abrupt changes in their API. Content-wise, Gettr notably hosts pro-Trump content mixed with conspiracy theories and attacks on the perceived "left." It's social network structure is asymmetric and centered around prominent right-thought leaders, which is characteristic for all alt-platforms. While right-leaning users joined Gettr as a result of a perceived freedom of speech infringement by the mainstream platforms, left-leaning users followed them in numbers as to "keep up with the misinformation." We contextualize these findings by looking into the Gettr's user interface design to provide a comprehensive insight into the incentive structure for joining and competing for the truth on Gettr.