Same here. I made great friends over there, and will always be thankful for that, but interactions are getting increasingly (and artificially) clunky. Substack is different, grown up vibes.
I have written for Medium online, & Substack is even easier to work with. Nobody bragging about how much they make monthly as a " side hustle ". THAT. GETS. OLD. PDQ.
Twitter, FB, & a few other social media platforms are fraying around the edges. Even with the Quora website, one has to wade through a mire full of questions about comic books, comic book movies, superheroes to a point where even a fanboy / nerd - geek wants variety.
Despite my having half dozen well-known books and an endowed professorship, Twitter refused for ten years to give me that blue check that allowed my tweets and announcements of articles to circulate widely. They only would verify people who had several articles in journalistic media OR were media-famous. Obviously a big bias against academics (unless they’d appeared on MSNBC) and/or those of us who didn’t have columns in mainstream newspapers, etc. It was incredibly frustrating. While it’s a lot of work developing a readership on substack at least there’s not a gatekeeper who decides what’s worth reading and what’s not. I started in January, and I’m loving it.
Agreed. It's wonderful to have a place where those who actually ENJOY working hard and putting thought and effort into the creations are welcomed and appreciated. Aspirants are constantly maligned all over society in favor of the weak and lazy whose main goals in life are to skim the surface, eschew introspection and take the well-trodden paths of least resistance everywhere.
BTW, I got banned on Twitter for a bogus algo hissy fit about "hate speech" (aka, I spoke some truth and the co-dependent censors couldn't handle it), and I declined to apologize and remove my tweets. I think they believe Twitter is so compelling that we just can't live without it. Wrong! I still look at Twitter once in a while when a reference to an intereting link comes my way, but there's nothing on there that I feel compelled to read any more or that I can't look up elsewhere if it really grabs me. I spend a lot more time on Substack now.
I've arrived at the conclusion that Twitter & FB are actually enormous, overly - hyped giant wastes of space & time when we could all be reading a book or magazine article, or at least an online publication.
We had a geneaologist ( spelling ? ) do research. Appletons are EVERYWHERE. There was 1 on the TITANIC. Probably not related to any of us. & she was in 1st class And she met Jack & Rose !
I have wondered if my writings are providing value. I also have a WP, many followers but no currency yet. I will do my best to transition the energy to my Substack, ASAP! Thanks for pointing to the value...
YES, focus! I am doing that. I have to calibrate my story-release schedule to adjust to the Substack platform. Learning, and networking now... Grow is also happening within.
I do question 'Substackery' - which is shallow, but understandably, 'callow' being but one of the already relatively latest, and consequentially rapid aging 'New Kids on the Block'.
As to Twitter how can a thoughtful aspirant writer expect to be, not just unceremoniously, other than be reeling from being, unmindfully, "Dumped On?"
In a nutshell Twitter is an economy of attention, for the lumpen proletariat and heroes of late capitalism. What good comes of using Twitter, will never be clear, not even to you. As for Substack, a similar economy of attention (and not Labor) is the norm - where the most mediocre and inconsequential text will float right at the top, that too beloging to a specific group type of people (white, mostly male, northern hemisphere, one language type peoples).
Agreed. Twitter is a cesspool of toxicity and Facebook can be not much better. Half the time people don't even bother reading whatever the articles are before diving into attack mode. Though I'm not a big commenter, only once did I have the same problem on Substack. Will this platform offer more nuanced discussion? More civil discussion? One can at least hope.
So far the comments have been. Good at this forum which makes me feel like it will stay good. Also I feel that most people here are either readers or writers which probably means most people without the mask of anonymity.
There is a heaping helping of civility which a lot of social media sites try to maintain, but they do TRY. Even Youtube comments can get salty or downright uncouth. I was even reamed out by the author Mercedes Lackey for an objective comment about the late Harlan Ellison on the Quora site.
Twitter - or whatever name they're using this week ( Meta ? ) - never really did much for me. I was talked into joining it by someone whom I barely knew. I was sweet - talked into joining FB by one of my aunts about 8 years ago, + or - the odd week. Musk's takeover of Twitter..... What was / is he thinking ? What in Zeus' b-tthole was he thinking ( I've started using Nicolas Cageisms ) ? He must need some people to bully or generally push around.
I think actually it unfortunately wasn't intended to be anything in particular when it was built. Microblogging was the classic example of a technologist's solution in search of a problem ... and so the creators were apparently surprised when a platform that permits people to anonymously broadcast to a massive audience, yet is restricted to sound-bite sized content, descended into a morass of jack-assery.
Twitter is like the slime in Ghostbusters in that it FEEDS on negativity. WHO YOU GONNA CALL ? Substack ! OK, I'll work on the slogan, no worries..... 😉😆
To be fair, it has a pretty vibrant writing community, but it is pretty geared mainly toward self-promotion. That said, you can mostly avoid the tribalism.
You and I were able to talk about baseball on Twitter today, Kevin. But see above: I could not even say “thanks” to someone who had reposted my latest music story on Twitter. They (meaning Musk) have gone mad.
I could never get into Twitter and yesterday I thought that I'm not so interested in Notes. But after reading the news about Twitter, now I'm looking forward to try Notes just to be a contrarian. 😂
I've never got into any social media and I honestly find it depressing when I see people just endlessly scrolling. I hope that doesn't become me with Notes haha, but I *am* intrigued to see how and what content it'll present and how well it'll serve writer and reader.
The only social media I used for a while with mild success was Instagram during the lockdown where I had an account about specially tea. The community was lovely but after a year I got tired of scrolling and clicking. Plus it was a huge time investment posting there. If Notes is also time intensive, I’m not sure I’ll be able to use it a lot.
I did discover Substack during the lockdown but it took me almost two years to start writing on the platform. Did you open your Substack soon after discovering the platform?
Ha ha. I am waiting for notes as well. I use Instagram and say 'use' lightly as most of the time I just deal with algorithms and spams. In last 8 months, I have gained 107 followers out of which 1 has clicked on substack link.
Everyone tells to promote your stuff on social media but some people are just not good at it.. lol..
More power to Substack. The history of the Internet is the history of entropy. All walled gardens crumble in the end. We're proud to publish here. Alex King, Founder, Cestrian Capital Research, Inc.
The history of EVERYTHING!, as in “who travels to Western Virginia by canal boat anymore?” Substack is doing to the internet what advances in technology did to transportation.
I seriously think that Notes could end up being a birdsite extinction event. I found myself almost offended but not surprised by the blocking of Substack by Twitter. Everything about the current regime at Twitter says doom to me. It might stagger on for a while, or it might be subject to a fire sale at some point - maybe Substack should acquire it then to use for dispersal and publicity! Anyway, it feels like the grounds are shifting very quickly indeed towards a new model for online culture, led by Substack.
I hope that your words are prophecy. I started 6 months ago here and I've had such a good experience so far and so many meaningful experiences with people on the internet. Which is absolutely amazing.
And it’s such a good motivation to keep on writing, right? I’m actually able to give myself deadlines and finish short stories. Something I wasn’t able to do before. And I found many good fiction writers here. The community is very kind and there’s something for everyone.
Yeah it is. Of course there is the intrinsic drive but boy does it feel amazing to have people read and discuss what you write, and to forge these connections with people.
I’m excited about notes because they’re right there with your publication and provides an entire community site for your writing. On top of that we have the entire substack community. I think the birds might fly away
I’m excited about notes because they’re right there with your publication and provides an entire community site for your writing. On top of that we have the entire substack community. I think the birds might fly away
I’ve already made amazing friends from substack and I can’t even imagine how much better it’s going to get. I love my publications and I secured new paid subscribers this week and it’s only going to get better. I love it
Why don't the hacks invade? Is it the paywall? Substack seems to be a benevolent place to read good ideas at length without the broken people interjecting poison too often.
The same here. The community is a true one. Furthermore, connection admins learning is now more accessible and heartwarming than ever! Thanks friends ✌🏻 (See you in the brew) 💡
Just wanted to let everyone know there's a workaround to Elon's petty actions against us Substack writers. You can use Tinyurl to shorten your Substack URL and so far Twitter's censors haven't stopped it.
That is a workaround. Too bad you have to do it, add that extra step. Also (and maybe it's just me), but when I hover over a URL I want to know where it's going. All link shorteners prevent this.
Yep, gotta do the workaround. I've given up on Twitter, though. Never got much traction there. Now I hear that only the check-mark folks (i.e. paid) get their tweets distributed. Non payers tweet into the bit bucket.
Yes, they do. It was confusing for a while because some were going through and others weren't, and finally someone figured out the custom domain factor!
Substack is doing some pretty incredible things, and while I'm still early in my newsletter journey, I appreciate the tools and platform greatly. Notes will be a welcome addition and I look forward to using them.
Also, if you want content on motivation, life reflections and philosophy, self growth and many adventures, consider checking out the brew I upload every week! See you there!
Substack has genuinely changed the way I approach writing and building an audience. Just crossed my first 100 subscribers this weeks - thank you! Yimin - Plantwise
I started blogging at the turn of the century. Back then LiveJournal was THE place. It was clean, white, uncluttered, ads-free with nice organization of comments. Facebook and other platforms stole the LJ audiences but those of us who indulged in the slow pace and intimacy of Livejournal publications in the 1990s and early 2000s have been missing those old days. Back then the word "followers" did not yet exist and everyone who subscribed to your blog was referred to as a "reader." Now with Substack that vibe is back! And it is geared towards better serving the writers! I couldn't be happier. Thank you, Team-Substack.
The clean and uncluttered (and ad-free!) space that is Substack is so much of the reason why I'm here. I'm sure the creators did that deliberately, so I just hope it always stays that way.
Ah yes! Live journal! I kept chasing that high as things shifted. I’d actually read people’s MySpace entries (there was one black scene girl named Amanda I became obsessed with and was the main reason I got my lip pierced my freshman year of college lol!).
Then the Facebook ones, which seemed more goofy since it was just friends...
And Tumblr was where my angsty teen/young adult thoughts live to this day.
Blogspot I think was one of the first places I laid my blogging roots before I found Live Jounral
So happy to be on substack. I find myself writing increasingly interesting posts because I know they are being read and not lost in some stupid algorithm. Twitter's petty little antics will not keep us there, they'll just drive us all here instead.
I’m slowly rebuilding that art myself! Of noticing things and writing about them, haha.
I’ve been on Substack for around 9 months now but before I had gotten in the groove of writing to appease an algorithm and to try to stop people from scrolling short form long enough to click, so I’m retraining myself to write what I desire and it’s been fun to get back to my roots!
Well, I guess I’m currently working through a new hurdle of just finding myself period (lost my mom in December) so I can start writing more engaging articles.
But I’m so happy my community allowed me to self-indulge in writing reflections each week as I work up to writing more intentionally with personal essays and poetry this week and hopefully beyond!
Substack is great; I feel so welcomed for who I want to allow myself to be.
Being forced to play algorithm chicken is so wrong! I simply refuse, and substack shows us that's simply not what audiences want, either. Glad you found your groove again but I'm so sorry for your loss.
Yes VERY true! I’m so tired of manipulation and clearly so many others are too like you said. And I’m slowly getting there! Day by day things seem to slowly make some sense again. And thank you for your condolences!
I'm curious about the tension between this idea that we "own our relationships" with our readers and the increased push for engagement *inside the app*. Now, I love the Substack app. I'm on it now. But if reader behavior engages in the app and not in email (and turns off or archives emails so as not see the same content twice) then you are becoming the middle man you claim not to be. If the Notes feature utilizes an algorithm you will be imitating the very thing you are trying to replace. I hope you're having a lot of conversations about this internally. From the outside it feels like Chat and Notes were launched hastily to make a play for people leaving Twitter and you've lost the plot a bit.
Interesting re Twitter... I’m really enthused by the quality of subscribers that have found my substack and the organic growth that is slow but steady. Game changer. I’m barely on any other social networks. Don’t see the point!
I use them to maybe reach a handful of people so they read my work, but the amount of visibility you get on there is underwhelming. Does not feel worth putting time into at all. Unlike spending time and energy on this wonderful platform talking to all of you.
Ridiculous move from Twitter. It makes so little sense to single out substack in this way. It is just continued hostility towards writers who are the lifeblood of their platform.
I got off Twitter a couple of months ago. My main following is here and Instagram. SO EXCITED for the growth and changes coming to Substack. This is by far my favorite place on the internet!!!
Second that. I'm thinking of closing my already semi-dormant twitter account and keeping my Instagram. And Substack is going to be the center of all my activities. They're doing great things here. :)
There is such a lovely supportive writer community here on Substack, which I was not aware of when I launched in January. Reminds me of the early days of Wordpress. In my short time here, Substack have launched so many new features to support and empower writers, as a newbie its very exciting... and just a little bit dizzying! 😄 I left Twitter in December, couldn't take any more of it being ruined as the new temporary plaything of a bored rich kid. 🤣 It was already a sewer anyway. And I certainly don't miss it. If you write on politics though, I can see the loss could be problematic. Anyway, I love writing on Substack, its definitely the way forward! And glad to meet fellow writers in threads such as these. Happy Easter from Ireland! 💕
Twitter has practically handed me over to substack with a bow. Viva la substack!
Same here. I made great friends over there, and will always be thankful for that, but interactions are getting increasingly (and artificially) clunky. Substack is different, grown up vibes.
Twitter was designed to be headline-driven, because your characters are limited.
People can't discuss complicated issues with a character limit.
I've always thought that was annoying.
To me, Twitter is like using carrier pigeons to communicate -- on a digital platform. 😂🤣
You have to calculate how many pigeons are needed to properly respond...
I have thrown in the towel on FB & Twitter. May a rabid camel spit in their bowls of yogurt. 😉😆🤣
ha may the bluebird of happiness build a nest in their nose (nod to Johnny there)
Or a nest in their craniums ! You think that there would be ENOUGH ROOM in there ?
Good analogy. And on top, I feel like the pigeon is having its feathers plucked right now by some voracious entity, lol!
Yeah, the quality of content and writers here is unparalleled across all platforms.
Well said!
I have written for Medium online, & Substack is even easier to work with. Nobody bragging about how much they make monthly as a " side hustle ". THAT. GETS. OLD. PDQ.
well said!
Gratzi !
Twitter, FB, & a few other social media platforms are fraying around the edges. Even with the Quora website, one has to wade through a mire full of questions about comic books, comic book movies, superheroes to a point where even a fanboy / nerd - geek wants variety.
well said - free speech and more individual thought is here on Substack
Despite my having half dozen well-known books and an endowed professorship, Twitter refused for ten years to give me that blue check that allowed my tweets and announcements of articles to circulate widely. They only would verify people who had several articles in journalistic media OR were media-famous. Obviously a big bias against academics (unless they’d appeared on MSNBC) and/or those of us who didn’t have columns in mainstream newspapers, etc. It was incredibly frustrating. While it’s a lot of work developing a readership on substack at least there’s not a gatekeeper who decides what’s worth reading and what’s not. I started in January, and I’m loving it.
Perhaps it’s the hard work that makes writers love it. Much more grounding than the throes of algorithms.
Agreed. It's wonderful to have a place where those who actually ENJOY working hard and putting thought and effort into the creations are welcomed and appreciated. Aspirants are constantly maligned all over society in favor of the weak and lazy whose main goals in life are to skim the surface, eschew introspection and take the well-trodden paths of least resistance everywhere.
BTW, I got banned on Twitter for a bogus algo hissy fit about "hate speech" (aka, I spoke some truth and the co-dependent censors couldn't handle it), and I declined to apologize and remove my tweets. I think they believe Twitter is so compelling that we just can't live without it. Wrong! I still look at Twitter once in a while when a reference to an intereting link comes my way, but there's nothing on there that I feel compelled to read any more or that I can't look up elsewhere if it really grabs me. I spend a lot more time on Substack now.
Amen! Every new subscriber is a point of pride. They don't come because they want you to follow back, they come because they want to read your work.
That is so, so valuable to me!
I've arrived at the conclusion that Twitter & FB are actually enormous, overly - hyped giant wastes of space & time when we could all be reading a book or magazine article, or at least an online publication.
now im convinced we must be related lol
We had a geneaologist ( spelling ? ) do research. Appletons are EVERYWHERE. There was 1 on the TITANIC. Probably not related to any of us. & she was in 1st class And she met Jack & Rose !
I have wondered if my writings are providing value. I also have a WP, many followers but no currency yet. I will do my best to transition the energy to my Substack, ASAP! Thanks for pointing to the value...
I am changing the way I share my writings. Thanks for pointing out the Twit issue. I am here to stack!
Same for me. I haven't left Twitter, but this is now my focus. I can grow, network, and learn far more from this platform. No contest.
YES, focus! I am doing that. I have to calibrate my story-release schedule to adjust to the Substack platform. Learning, and networking now... Grow is also happening within.
How so?
I do question 'Substackery' - which is shallow, but understandably, 'callow' being but one of the already relatively latest, and consequentially rapid aging 'New Kids on the Block'.
As to Twitter how can a thoughtful aspirant writer expect to be, not just unceremoniously, other than be reeling from being, unmindfully, "Dumped On?"
In a nutshell Twitter is an economy of attention, for the lumpen proletariat and heroes of late capitalism. What good comes of using Twitter, will never be clear, not even to you. As for Substack, a similar economy of attention (and not Labor) is the norm - where the most mediocre and inconsequential text will float right at the top, that too beloging to a specific group type of people (white, mostly male, northern hemisphere, one language type peoples).
Viva La Mediocre @v@
HAH! SAME!
Woot woot: Welcome my man.
viva!
Me yesterday: “oh cool, I’m interested to see how Notes compares to Twitter.”
Me today: “screw the bird site, I’m done. Gimme that Substack Notes escape hatch, please!”
Twitter has been gone for a while. I tried a few times and it was just not good and everyone on whatever side they’re on are just so hostile
Agreed. Everytime I have tried twitter, I have come back stressed.
Agreed. Twitter is a cesspool of toxicity and Facebook can be not much better. Half the time people don't even bother reading whatever the articles are before diving into attack mode. Though I'm not a big commenter, only once did I have the same problem on Substack. Will this platform offer more nuanced discussion? More civil discussion? One can at least hope.
So far the comments have been. Good at this forum which makes me feel like it will stay good. Also I feel that most people here are either readers or writers which probably means most people without the mask of anonymity.
There is a heaping helping of civility which a lot of social media sites try to maintain, but they do TRY. Even Youtube comments can get salty or downright uncouth. I was even reamed out by the author Mercedes Lackey for an objective comment about the late Harlan Ellison on the Quora site.
Twitter - or whatever name they're using this week ( Meta ? ) - never really did much for me. I was talked into joining it by someone whom I barely knew. I was sweet - talked into joining FB by one of my aunts about 8 years ago, + or - the odd week. Musk's takeover of Twitter..... What was / is he thinking ? What in Zeus' b-tthole was he thinking ( I've started using Nicolas Cageisms ) ? He must need some people to bully or generally push around.
Unintended (one would hope) side effect of the character limit.
The truth takes more character. It is a truthful play on words, but the lack of virtuous people may be humanity's doom.
I could not agree more, James.
I'm working on a Subreddit about that very thing at the moment.
Dunno how I will go, as I have quite some limitations.
The TRUTH ? Don't make me go Jack Nicholson..... 😆😉
It's intended. In fact being stressed and pissed and depressed is the WHOLE POINT AND PURPOSE of twitter.
I think actually it unfortunately wasn't intended to be anything in particular when it was built. Microblogging was the classic example of a technologist's solution in search of a problem ... and so the creators were apparently surprised when a platform that permits people to anonymously broadcast to a massive audience, yet is restricted to sound-bite sized content, descended into a morass of jack-assery.
Twitter is like the slime in Ghostbusters in that it FEEDS on negativity. WHO YOU GONNA CALL ? Substack ! OK, I'll work on the slogan, no worries..... 😉😆
To be fair, it has a pretty vibrant writing community, but it is pretty geared mainly toward self-promotion. That said, you can mostly avoid the tribalism.
Agree. Already, many substacks are merely redirects to websites... "See the rest of the article here:"
That is starting to tick me off. Posting in two places is fine, but shorting me on substack just I have to click to a website is messed up.
The workaround used to be by using the Lists feature, but even that has been degraded somewhat.
You and I were able to talk about baseball on Twitter today, Kevin. But see above: I could not even say “thanks” to someone who had reposted my latest music story on Twitter. They (meaning Musk) have gone mad.
I used to admire Musk. Now his strategies have gone PEAR - SHAPED.
LOL! PEAR... perhaps just limp.
I'm not TOUCHING THAT ( while Freud is doing cartwheels in his grave ).
100% agree. Those are the kinds of interactions that have kept me on Twitter despite everything else.
I tried to thank someone for reposting this AM as well; that’s actually how I learned that Substack had been blocked!
Has anyone on Substack used POST. I'm a Substack believer and I use POST. It is an excellent social media platform.
I could never get into Twitter and yesterday I thought that I'm not so interested in Notes. But after reading the news about Twitter, now I'm looking forward to try Notes just to be a contrarian. 😂
Heh, same.
I've never got into any social media and I honestly find it depressing when I see people just endlessly scrolling. I hope that doesn't become me with Notes haha, but I *am* intrigued to see how and what content it'll present and how well it'll serve writer and reader.
Nathan, I'm only on FB because my aunt sweet - talked me into it, & joined Twitter because A COMPLETE STRANGER recommended it. Where is my backbone ?
The only social media I used for a while with mild success was Instagram during the lockdown where I had an account about specially tea. The community was lovely but after a year I got tired of scrolling and clicking. Plus it was a huge time investment posting there. If Notes is also time intensive, I’m not sure I’ll be able to use it a lot.
I wish I'd discovered Substack during lockdown! 🤣
Speciality tea. Sounds great. But yeah, I can understand the time investment.
I did discover Substack during the lockdown but it took me almost two years to start writing on the platform. Did you open your Substack soon after discovering the platform?
Yeah, only discovered at the start of this year and created my Substack about a week after I think!
Ha ha. I am waiting for notes as well. I use Instagram and say 'use' lightly as most of the time I just deal with algorithms and spams. In last 8 months, I have gained 107 followers out of which 1 has clicked on substack link.
Everyone tells to promote your stuff on social media but some people are just not good at it.. lol..
HAH. Yes, same here.
Right?
Same. Can’t wait for notes!!!
Preach it, Brother Jesse ! I agree. Twitter is a pain, Facebook is a WASTE.
More power to Substack. The history of the Internet is the history of entropy. All walled gardens crumble in the end. We're proud to publish here. Alex King, Founder, Cestrian Capital Research, Inc.
The history of EVERYTHING!, as in “who travels to Western Virginia by canal boat anymore?” Substack is doing to the internet what advances in technology did to transportation.
The inevitable March of progress…
Can’t agree more!
except Apple is thriving
Our App Store pay away just halved though. So, crumbling.
I seriously think that Notes could end up being a birdsite extinction event. I found myself almost offended but not surprised by the blocking of Substack by Twitter. Everything about the current regime at Twitter says doom to me. It might stagger on for a while, or it might be subject to a fire sale at some point - maybe Substack should acquire it then to use for dispersal and publicity! Anyway, it feels like the grounds are shifting very quickly indeed towards a new model for online culture, led by Substack.
I hope that your words are prophecy. I started 6 months ago here and I've had such a good experience so far and so many meaningful experiences with people on the internet. Which is absolutely amazing.
I have been noticing that too! That, and people actually seeing and reading my writing..
And it’s such a good motivation to keep on writing, right? I’m actually able to give myself deadlines and finish short stories. Something I wasn’t able to do before. And I found many good fiction writers here. The community is very kind and there’s something for everyone.
Yeah it is. Of course there is the intrinsic drive but boy does it feel amazing to have people read and discuss what you write, and to forge these connections with people.
It's only been two months for me, and I'm in love. I wish I'd started years ago. Totally kicking myself for waiting!
Same here, Claudia. And hello again 😃
Hello again, Terry! I just got back from feeding and playing with my friend's cats. Though I was a bit concerned because they didn't eat that much...
Don't worry. They will probably scoff the lot in your absence. They may have been discombobulated because they are not used to you (I presume)
They wanted to play though... I just left them plenty of dry food. And I had to google 'discombobulated'... what are you doing to me? 😅
😂
I’m excited about notes because they’re right there with your publication and provides an entire community site for your writing. On top of that we have the entire substack community. I think the birds might fly away
I’m excited about notes because they’re right there with your publication and provides an entire community site for your writing. On top of that we have the entire substack community. I think the birds might fly away
Really? It's that Big?
I’ve already made amazing friends from substack and I can’t even imagine how much better it’s going to get. I love my publications and I secured new paid subscribers this week and it’s only going to get better. I love it
Why don't the hacks invade? Is it the paywall? Substack seems to be a benevolent place to read good ideas at length without the broken people interjecting poison too often.
That's a huge upside to this platform. Let's hope it stays that way.
Likewise, it's a pleasure to have well-informed, polite and civilised readers. I can't think of any other vehicle to match it.
There’s a few, but they seem to get stamped out pretty quick. https://tompendergast.substack.com/p/the-pirates-are-coming-for-substack
Congrats on the new paid subscribers!!! So happy for you!
Thank you and your name is absolutely beautiful
Thank you 🥹
The same here. The community is a true one. Furthermore, connection admins learning is now more accessible and heartwarming than ever! Thanks friends ✌🏻 (See you in the brew) 💡
Congratulations!
Thank you!
Just wanted to let everyone know there's a workaround to Elon's petty actions against us Substack writers. You can use Tinyurl to shorten your Substack URL and so far Twitter's censors haven't stopped it.
tinyurl.com
That is a workaround. Too bad you have to do it, add that extra step. Also (and maybe it's just me), but when I hover over a URL I want to know where it's going. All link shorteners prevent this.
Good point, Victor. But anything in a pinch!
I'm guessing this is only temporary until Elon gets over his mad.
Or calmer heads can convince him this won't end well.
Yep, gotta do the workaround. I've given up on Twitter, though. Never got much traction there. Now I hear that only the check-mark folks (i.e. paid) get their tweets distributed. Non payers tweet into the bit bucket.
I paid for the check mark for a couple of months saw no increase in views and click throughs and actually lost followers it is just another con.
Thank you .. seems like I’m getting a lot of Twitter suppression
Custom domains also work, and an added bonus is that if they go after you, you can claim that Twitter personally blocked you.
Yes, they do. It was confusing for a while because some were going through and others weren't, and finally someone figured out the custom domain factor!
Thanks for the tip, Ramona! I’ll try that.
Wonder how long before Musk works out how to snuff that out.
Not long, I'm sure. But I would think it's tough to lock out tiny urls.
Yeah maybe. I figured there might be a way to see where they're pointing and thus it'd only take a bit of extra code to then block.
Hopefully that's not the case, though.
I hope not, too. I'm not savvy in any of that so I'm just happy I skunked them this once!
Thanks Ramona!
So it’s true? That’s wild!
Substack is doing some pretty incredible things, and while I'm still early in my newsletter journey, I appreciate the tools and platform greatly. Notes will be a welcome addition and I look forward to using them.
Author, Of Interest, a newsletter for underreported news and human interest stories. https://ofinterestnews.substack.com/
Yes sir 🫡✏️ Happy Writing!
Also, if you want content on motivation, life reflections and philosophy, self growth and many adventures, consider checking out the brew I upload every week! See you there!
Subscribing!
Subscribed so fast I'm still giving myself whiplash.
Substack has genuinely changed the way I approach writing and building an audience. Just crossed my first 100 subscribers this weeks - thank you! Yimin - Plantwise
Big congrats Yimin Xu! That's fantastic.
Writing here has also completely changed my approach to writing. I love it.
Thank you!
Congrats on making it to the 100 club. It gets better from here on out!
Thank you!!!
Fantastic news! Testament to your great publication (Plantwise).
Thank you!!
That is nice. I hope to get there by end of the month.
Fingers crossed!
Congratulations! I'm approaching 40 myself, and I'm really excited.
Thank you! Your content looks great!
Thank you!
I started blogging at the turn of the century. Back then LiveJournal was THE place. It was clean, white, uncluttered, ads-free with nice organization of comments. Facebook and other platforms stole the LJ audiences but those of us who indulged in the slow pace and intimacy of Livejournal publications in the 1990s and early 2000s have been missing those old days. Back then the word "followers" did not yet exist and everyone who subscribed to your blog was referred to as a "reader." Now with Substack that vibe is back! And it is geared towards better serving the writers! I couldn't be happier. Thank you, Team-Substack.
The clean and uncluttered (and ad-free!) space that is Substack is so much of the reason why I'm here. I'm sure the creators did that deliberately, so I just hope it always stays that way.
It sure has a lot of Web 1.0 energy, doesn't it?
And I m loving it!
so well said!
A reader!! I love that 🌺🗝️
I feel the same way and have written about how Substack feels like early 2000a blogging community in some ways. It's nice to be back. :)
Ah yes! Live journal! I kept chasing that high as things shifted. I’d actually read people’s MySpace entries (there was one black scene girl named Amanda I became obsessed with and was the main reason I got my lip pierced my freshman year of college lol!).
Then the Facebook ones, which seemed more goofy since it was just friends...
And Tumblr was where my angsty teen/young adult thoughts live to this day.
Blogspot I think was one of the first places I laid my blogging roots before I found Live Jounral
So happy to be on substack. I find myself writing increasingly interesting posts because I know they are being read and not lost in some stupid algorithm. Twitter's petty little antics will not keep us there, they'll just drive us all here instead.
It is inspiring to build an audience and know they’ll appreciate your work.
Yes!
Yes! It actually feels worth putting in extra work because people will read what you worked so hard on.
Absolutely!
I’m slowly rebuilding that art myself! Of noticing things and writing about them, haha.
I’ve been on Substack for around 9 months now but before I had gotten in the groove of writing to appease an algorithm and to try to stop people from scrolling short form long enough to click, so I’m retraining myself to write what I desire and it’s been fun to get back to my roots!
Well, I guess I’m currently working through a new hurdle of just finding myself period (lost my mom in December) so I can start writing more engaging articles.
But I’m so happy my community allowed me to self-indulge in writing reflections each week as I work up to writing more intentionally with personal essays and poetry this week and hopefully beyond!
Substack is great; I feel so welcomed for who I want to allow myself to be.
Being forced to play algorithm chicken is so wrong! I simply refuse, and substack shows us that's simply not what audiences want, either. Glad you found your groove again but I'm so sorry for your loss.
Yes VERY true! I’m so tired of manipulation and clearly so many others are too like you said. And I’m slowly getting there! Day by day things seem to slowly make some sense again. And thank you for your condolences!
I'm curious about the tension between this idea that we "own our relationships" with our readers and the increased push for engagement *inside the app*. Now, I love the Substack app. I'm on it now. But if reader behavior engages in the app and not in email (and turns off or archives emails so as not see the same content twice) then you are becoming the middle man you claim not to be. If the Notes feature utilizes an algorithm you will be imitating the very thing you are trying to replace. I hope you're having a lot of conversations about this internally. From the outside it feels like Chat and Notes were launched hastily to make a play for people leaving Twitter and you've lost the plot a bit.
Very well put objection to the app. I agree.
Interesting re Twitter... I’m really enthused by the quality of subscribers that have found my substack and the organic growth that is slow but steady. Game changer. I’m barely on any other social networks. Don’t see the point!
I use them to maybe reach a handful of people so they read my work, but the amount of visibility you get on there is underwhelming. Does not feel worth putting time into at all. Unlike spending time and energy on this wonderful platform talking to all of you.
Ridiculous move from Twitter. It makes so little sense to single out substack in this way. It is just continued hostility towards writers who are the lifeblood of their platform.
Great point. The only cool people on there are journalists and writers. Oh well!
Writing for the sake of writing, thank you for opening up this service to content creators who are looking for space to work diligently.
I got off Twitter a couple of months ago. My main following is here and Instagram. SO EXCITED for the growth and changes coming to Substack. This is by far my favorite place on the internet!!!
Twitter kind of died. The only people there are the ones in love with politics.
💯 I was only using it to post my new Substack publications.
Same here!
Same
Same here.
Or fighting.
You'd be surprised at how often those two things go hand in hand.
Second that. I'm thinking of closing my already semi-dormant twitter account and keeping my Instagram. And Substack is going to be the center of all my activities. They're doing great things here. :)
Closed mine earlier today!
There is such a lovely supportive writer community here on Substack, which I was not aware of when I launched in January. Reminds me of the early days of Wordpress. In my short time here, Substack have launched so many new features to support and empower writers, as a newbie its very exciting... and just a little bit dizzying! 😄 I left Twitter in December, couldn't take any more of it being ruined as the new temporary plaything of a bored rich kid. 🤣 It was already a sewer anyway. And I certainly don't miss it. If you write on politics though, I can see the loss could be problematic. Anyway, I love writing on Substack, its definitely the way forward! And glad to meet fellow writers in threads such as these. Happy Easter from Ireland! 💕
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