Would love something similar for global news in the months/years ahead. America kind of dominates the discourse already, would love to learn about things beyond the US.
My thoughts exactly. As a Canadian, I do have an interest in U.S. politics but it is not the centre of my world. I also would love for Substack to not be a U.S.-centric space as many users like me are not from the U.S., or even from North America.
As an American, I would love to hear how people from other countries feel about their elections, especially with regard to lock boxes and security. I really meant drop boxes or any random places to put ballots vs at a local voting location where ballots are handled with integrity and securely then counted at that location. Anything else is fraud guaranteed.
Australia, no problem with lock boxes, voting fraud, enrolling to vote, or any candidate not accepting the results, no matter how close. We're all good here. We have mandatory voting registration and getting ticked off the list (no one can force anyone to cast a valid vote, so it's not actually mandatory voting), we don't have jerrymandered electorates, got rid of that decades ago. Voting is on a Saturday, or postal, or at early open booths in the weeks prior to the official day.
It's not hard to have honest elections, conducted with integrity. America chooses not to do it that way.
I realize I was slightly misleading in my response. We're fine with locked boxes, because we don't have them. Ballot papers go into simple large cardboard boxes, which have lids with a slot to drop the ballots in. There are no locks. Yep. No locks! No nonsense. Lots of trust.
Hello jess and other readers: The title of the article reads: "Introducing a new destination for U.S. Election discourse" Is there something in the title you failed to understand?
There are hundreds of Substack pages originating from numerous locations around the world, and diverse reader comments. The article title is not exclusionary...
I work in media, and spent a decade in Asia. The reality is that, for english-language media, the US market completely dominates all metrics. That makes it hard, from a business perspective, to not put energy into what Americans find interesting.
I worked at two different english-language companies in Asia, that had no brand recognition in the US, and we still had 20-40% of our readers coming from America. I would imagine that Substack has similar internal metrics.
Every now and then, I have moments of awe with how big the US economy is compared to the rest of the world.
That being said, the US is also famously ignorant about the rest of the world, and I'd love to help change that haha.
I just left a comment at the same time as you. But it's interesting considering Hamish (Aussie or NZ, I forget which one) and Chris (Canadian) are both immigrants. This is a platform that you would think would embrace different regions with the same fervor and make the discussion more vibrant.
With many people moving to Japan or expressing interest in doing so, I hope they do the same when Japan holds their general elections next year.
Right! Like I’m from Canada and we’re slated to have a federal election within the next year – will Substack have a “Canadian election” tab for users like me? I really hope Substack doesn’t become a “U.S. is the centre of the universe” social media space.
We'll be having tabs come and go for all sorts of things, many of which will be specialized/localized! For example, we'll shortly have a NFL week 1 tab, but only for people who have shown an interest in sports. Definitely expect to see some for global news events as they happen.
Please don't diversify to much or you could end up like fb. I appreciate Substack the way it is. It has provided me with a community of like minded people that I feel safe to share with, write for. All systems can only grow to their point of collapse. Look a fb and Twitter. Big they are but mostly despised. Over-doing can be the death nell to all things. Countries as well.
I agree with all the writers that have said Substack should try to represent a broad spectrum of cultures from many countries. Over exposure to
Americanism destroys many cultures as our youth all want to wear inverted baseball cap and sweatshirts with Chicago or whatever written on them, while listening to gangsta rap. I struggle to find International content on most of the media products wonderful designed in the US.
So please keep your focus international. I am a British expatriot, brought up in Australia residing in Aotearoa. My interests are broad, as I suspect many of us are on this site. I love your product. Please don't spoil it.
Oh that's amazing! Excited for that. Just food for thought: I'm quite interested in sports, but have completely separated that from my Substack, so there would be no indication that I was interested in sports. Anyway! That's an exciting update.
Kidding, but we are working on more clear ways to explicitly indicate interests or disinterests in things. You can actually long-press (on mobile) these tabs to hide/show disinterest already, and we're soon launching some ways to show positive interest.
NFL is a sport played by just one country. The majority of sports fans in the world don't support, watch, or subscribe to it. Many won't even know what the acronym means. It's like indicating a technology interest and only receiving Linux news.
What's funny about this is that neither of the founders were born or raised in the US. They both came here as adults, started companies, and now make the US the center of their universe instead of focusing on a more global audience.
I agree! People living in foreign countries so often know more than we do about anything in the world. I search out a few foreign newspapers but an overarching topic would be great.
Though my page is history-focused and I’m very new to Substack, I’m taking a cross cultural approach and I will soon be releasing some political articles. If this type of thing interests you I would love your support!💛
Thank you for bringing attention to this! As someone who also writes about global issues, I’ve been feeling this for a while. Looking forward to reading your work—subscribed.
A major reason I read Substack is to NOT read "discussions from top politics publishers across the platform". I want to hear a diversity of thoughts, not just from those who are most prolific / popular.
Because many of us are here on Substack to get away from "mainstream media" and to connect with individuals. So a feature that seems to be promoting the "most popular" publishers seems counter to the real value of Substack and seems like a step toward being just yet another "alternative media source".
Does it have to be on the phone? I can't type on the damn thing and I can barely see it. Can't I use my windows computer instead? I can type 60 words a minute on a keyboard but can't type 60 characters a minute on the phone. I have a regular sized iPhone with its regular tiny screen, but a 75" monitor that I can see just fine. And, I'm old. So, I don't "do phone."
I "don't phone" either. So if it isn't supported on a browser then it's not a feature I use. I guess maybe I have to explore a bit on the browser because I only see the posts of people I subscribe to.
I hope there'll be room for voices who are not already extremely well-read in this vertical as well. Would be great to see Subtack promote up and coming voices.
We're working on this! Everyone is eligible to be in the tabs, and there are definitely small voices already in many of the categories.
That said, right now we use likes/engagement as one of the ways we rank things, so bigger voices are, at the moment, a hair more likely to end up there because of their established audience. Working on this though, because we do want all voices to get their chance to shine!
There is enough of our world that operates from the metrics of who has the bigger voice because of being already rewarded - it aligns to people’s current biases.
How can we expand all our thinking if we focus on those voices over and over again? That sounds like Substack is operating from the same playbook as media and big business.
Do you expect the voices who do not already have big audiences to grow if they are regulated to sitting at the kids table to eat?
I am wondering now if Russia is paying him off too, but even if they are not, he continues to imagine that he us relevant and just NO, he has been wrong so many times abd his vibe is just yuck.
I am 82 years old... I well remember elections "back when" that when the election was over people went back to normal life... there are just way too many yelling and screaming at the same time about whose best, calling each other liars and thieves and general pandemonium. When an election is over these same wackos (on both sides) start again. All we have in the world anymore is elections... I'm thoroughly fed up!
An election campaign should be no longer that a month, donations (particularly commercial donations) should be capped... not millions of dollars a day!
And people shouldn't get so loud and nasty... go into the booth, mark your ballot and get on with life. Period.
Well, girls, I’m 84 and certainly remember a lot of emotion when Nixon and Kennedy ran for President. It’s good we can still get emotional about something in our old age!
Amen it seems the real evil came when they allowed hidden money to fund campaigns. i'm US gov and I have to file a statement of my finances. Why do they not have to abide? Cuz rules are only for the little people. We too need to outlaw lobbying and bills need to be separate. You can never tell who voted for what.
Hummm. I like the idea of categories, but this move creates the potential for Substack to elevate viewpoints it finds "worthy," while other viewpoints are not seen. Unless it's an algorithm that gathers every Substack post that fits a particular category, this has great potential for manipulation and should not be implemented. We already have the "correct information" spoon-fed to us by Legacy media.
This has been happening now for about three months a very steep slide into X because the payment service which is called stripe is controlled by Elon so basically he runs both X and I’m sure he put amazing pressure on Hamish and these other guys who own Substack
BOOOOOO!!!!!!! I like Substack because it generally DOESNT have politics. If I wanted that, I’d hang out on Facebook or twitter (and I’m not on either). Give me the wild writing. Give me the fiction that will turn your stomach, make you laugh, and break your heart. Spare me the political bullshit. I’m not here for any of it.
….just to understand, and to speak for many, the only reason I subscribe is for the politics. I am a junkie and need real news sources since we’ve been taken over in the “real” press.
Emphatically disagree. Substack is for all kinds of writers and creators. And some people write and create content about politics. Also, if you don't just write off all of it as "political bullshit," you might find some unique voices that are saying things that are quite different than the typical bullshit you hear from each side.
Mainstream media have been hauntingly silent on Alex Dobrenko running as a third candidate and yet the public clamors for it. What is Substack's official position? Will Alex Dobrenko (immigrant, sure, but feels American as 100% beef) be given a space to shine in this new section??? The eyes of the world are upon you
I see where Substack is promoting all the "names" it's wooed on to the platform.
Am I missing where Substack is promoting the small writers who have grown up organically on the platform and would no doubt appreciate a bit of a publicity boost?
I know there are several "small" Substacks whose writing and commentary far surprasses what the "names" put out. By promoting the "small" Substacks along with the "names" you would be making a useful stand for quality of content.
When the small content providers win the entire platform wins, including the names. Why not embrace a promotions strategy that helps everyone win?
Would love something similar for global news in the months/years ahead. America kind of dominates the discourse already, would love to learn about things beyond the US.
My thoughts exactly. As a Canadian, I do have an interest in U.S. politics but it is not the centre of my world. I also would love for Substack to not be a U.S.-centric space as many users like me are not from the U.S., or even from North America.
The world keeps turning, no matter what happens in America. And that's increasingly true as the world becomes more multipolar.
I'm live in the US, and I would prefer not to have a US-centric news coverage of the states.
As an American, I would love to hear how people from other countries feel about their elections, especially with regard to lock boxes and security. I really meant drop boxes or any random places to put ballots vs at a local voting location where ballots are handled with integrity and securely then counted at that location. Anything else is fraud guaranteed.
Australia, no problem with lock boxes, voting fraud, enrolling to vote, or any candidate not accepting the results, no matter how close. We're all good here. We have mandatory voting registration and getting ticked off the list (no one can force anyone to cast a valid vote, so it's not actually mandatory voting), we don't have jerrymandered electorates, got rid of that decades ago. Voting is on a Saturday, or postal, or at early open booths in the weeks prior to the official day.
It's not hard to have honest elections, conducted with integrity. America chooses not to do it that way.
Agreed. As essentially a Euro-American more, less-filtered content would be welcome.
I realize I was slightly misleading in my response. We're fine with locked boxes, because we don't have them. Ballot papers go into simple large cardboard boxes, which have lids with a slot to drop the ballots in. There are no locks. Yep. No locks! No nonsense. Lots of trust.
Like me, I live in Zagreb Croatia EU
Hello jess and other readers: The title of the article reads: "Introducing a new destination for U.S. Election discourse" Is there something in the title you failed to understand?
There are hundreds of Substack pages originating from numerous locations around the world, and diverse reader comments. The article title is not exclusionary...
Here in the USA, I am worried about...
Oh ☭anada!
Oh ☪anada!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kCyL_6WnVI&lc=UgzZCkzaBjlWXrj2Ivt4AaABAg
Why is Substack so USA centered? I’m from Europe, that place with 27 countries and a lot of neighboring ones I’d rather be interested in knowing :)
I work in media, and spent a decade in Asia. The reality is that, for english-language media, the US market completely dominates all metrics. That makes it hard, from a business perspective, to not put energy into what Americans find interesting.
I worked at two different english-language companies in Asia, that had no brand recognition in the US, and we still had 20-40% of our readers coming from America. I would imagine that Substack has similar internal metrics.
Every now and then, I have moments of awe with how big the US economy is compared to the rest of the world.
That being said, the US is also famously ignorant about the rest of the world, and I'd love to help change that haha.
I just left a comment at the same time as you. But it's interesting considering Hamish (Aussie or NZ, I forget which one) and Chris (Canadian) are both immigrants. This is a platform that you would think would embrace different regions with the same fervor and make the discussion more vibrant.
With many people moving to Japan or expressing interest in doing so, I hope they do the same when Japan holds their general elections next year.
Right! Like I’m from Canada and we’re slated to have a federal election within the next year – will Substack have a “Canadian election” tab for users like me? I really hope Substack doesn’t become a “U.S. is the centre of the universe” social media space.
It depends on the potential ad $$$.
I’d be interested in Japanese elections though, as they have an influence on a theme I’m interested in (whales in the arctic zone)
It might be a function of the us centricity of the writers that choose to come to substack .. anyone got that breakdown?
Most of my readers are from the EU but I do have a big chunk of US readership too.
Ian more thinking across substack as a whole … and not so much readers as writers.
To answer you question, because the United States of America is a very primitive country intellectually. Remember Galileo Galilei and Nicolaus Copernicus that's the rest of the civilized world America is the Pope. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei#/media/File:Galileo_facing_the_Roman_Inquisition.jpg
We'll be having tabs come and go for all sorts of things, many of which will be specialized/localized! For example, we'll shortly have a NFL week 1 tab, but only for people who have shown an interest in sports. Definitely expect to see some for global news events as they happen.
Please don't diversify to much or you could end up like fb. I appreciate Substack the way it is. It has provided me with a community of like minded people that I feel safe to share with, write for. All systems can only grow to their point of collapse. Look a fb and Twitter. Big they are but mostly despised. Over-doing can be the death nell to all things. Countries as well.
I agree with all the writers that have said Substack should try to represent a broad spectrum of cultures from many countries. Over exposure to
Americanism destroys many cultures as our youth all want to wear inverted baseball cap and sweatshirts with Chicago or whatever written on them, while listening to gangsta rap. I struggle to find International content on most of the media products wonderful designed in the US.
So please keep your focus international. I am a British expatriot, brought up in Australia residing in Aotearoa. My interests are broad, as I suspect many of us are on this site. I love your product. Please don't spoil it.
I just realised Reddit is DEI
Diversify Embelish Incarcerate. You tend to get tabs where you are not allowed open discussions on there.
It is a long way from Aaron Swartz posting scientific papers without copyright.
Oh that's amazing! Excited for that. Just food for thought: I'm quite interested in sports, but have completely separated that from my Substack, so there would be no indication that I was interested in sports. Anyway! That's an exciting update.
Don't worry, we know everything :)
Kidding, but we are working on more clear ways to explicitly indicate interests or disinterests in things. You can actually long-press (on mobile) these tabs to hide/show disinterest already, and we're soon launching some ways to show positive interest.
I’m pretty excited to explore these tabs today. I think I hadn’t fully engaged with that feature.
I’ll definitely use that 🏈
Think it will be out later today :)
+1
NFL is a sport played by just one country. The majority of sports fans in the world don't support, watch, or subscribe to it. Many won't even know what the acronym means. It's like indicating a technology interest and only receiving Linux news.
What's funny about this is that neither of the founders were born or raised in the US. They both came here as adults, started companies, and now make the US the center of their universe instead of focusing on a more global audience.
listen to bbc radio on some radio stations, log on to european newspapers
Or read my newsletter ;)
Foreign Affairs magazine used to be amazing with that kind of stuff. Although I haven’t read it in a while so I’m not sure what state it’s in now
It's still good. I read it regularly and they typically have one issue that American focussed, and the next issue will be global.
I agree! People living in foreign countries so often know more than we do about anything in the world. I search out a few foreign newspapers but an overarching topic would be great.
Exactly Kevin... and they removed my top comment just now which said I was changing my "good idea" response because of their for profit stance!
I get a lot of my international news through France 24. They also have a section on rooting out fake news.
France 24 is solid. I read FT because I like financial news, but that's just a personal preference.
Though my page is history-focused and I’m very new to Substack, I’m taking a cross cultural approach and I will soon be releasing some political articles. If this type of thing interests you I would love your support!💛
I write each week a newsletter International Need to Know. Feel free to check it out
Thank you for bringing attention to this! As someone who also writes about global issues, I’ve been feeling this for a while. Looking forward to reading your work—subscribed.
This is the first I'm hearing about a "2024 U.S. Presidential Election." Is that like Brat Summer?
Yes it is. It's truly the summer of bratwursts.
https://www.thaliascomedy.com/p/group-chat-dads-are-loving-brat-summer
A major reason I read Substack is to NOT read "discussions from top politics publishers across the platform". I want to hear a diversity of thoughts, not just from those who are most prolific / popular.
Hello John. The title of the article reads: "Introducing a new destination for U.S. Election discourse" Why did you chose to respond?
Because many of us are here on Substack to get away from "mainstream media" and to connect with individuals. So a feature that seems to be promoting the "most popular" publishers seems counter to the real value of Substack and seems like a step toward being just yet another "alternative media source".
Please see reply re importance of collective and inclusive intelligence written above!
Oh this is great. Does this mean we will be spared of all US politics related topics from showing up on the normal home feed? Asking for a friend.
brb, installing a VPN so they think i’m in Corsica
Does it have to be on the phone? I can't type on the damn thing and I can barely see it. Can't I use my windows computer instead? I can type 60 words a minute on a keyboard but can't type 60 characters a minute on the phone. I have a regular sized iPhone with its regular tiny screen, but a 75" monitor that I can see just fine. And, I'm old. So, I don't "do phone."
I "don't phone" either. So if it isn't supported on a browser then it's not a feature I use. I guess maybe I have to explore a bit on the browser because I only see the posts of people I subscribe to.
It’s on browser as well! Computer works great.
That's good news! Thank you.
I am with you and John, my phone sits off on the side and use it to text my son mainly because who the F wants to type on that damn tiny azz thing?
I hope there'll be room for voices who are not already extremely well-read in this vertical as well. Would be great to see Subtack promote up and coming voices.
We're working on this! Everyone is eligible to be in the tabs, and there are definitely small voices already in many of the categories.
That said, right now we use likes/engagement as one of the ways we rank things, so bigger voices are, at the moment, a hair more likely to end up there because of their established audience. Working on this though, because we do want all voices to get their chance to shine!
Please acknowledge that collective and inclusive intelligence is more sustainable than any top down metric!
Right b on
Substack, yes, please acknowledge.
RIGHT ON, GUY!!!
RIGHT ON!
There is enough of our world that operates from the metrics of who has the bigger voice because of being already rewarded - it aligns to people’s current biases.
How can we expand all our thinking if we focus on those voices over and over again? That sounds like Substack is operating from the same playbook as media and big business.
Do you expect the voices who do not already have big audiences to grow if they are regulated to sitting at the kids table to eat?
Exactly what I was trying to get across
You SAID IT!
Can't eat I'm laughing so much being at the kids' table. Oh Thank You!@@
LUVVVVV IT !!!
Incredibly good point. Thank you. Level playing fields thank you. So sick of hierarchy.
Substack, it's your turn to say something.
THANK YOU for the clear and final word on this PROBLEM!
Why won't "liked" add new likes ?
You, TOO!
I'd love a source on discoveries in astronomy, sthg like Sky and Telescope mag's readership can enjoy.
Yes yes yes! There should be a tab for Outer Space!
Sandy S, THANK YOU!!!
Can you believe the photos of the very CENTER OF THE MIKLY WAY???!!!
Yes yes yes!!!
Totally new way to photograph stellar phenomena. AWESOME!!!
MUST SEE!!!
WhilecI appreciate your effort here, Nate Silver is junk
I was about to plead can we NOT have Nate Silver?
I am wondering now if Russia is paying him off too, but even if they are not, he continues to imagine that he us relevant and just NO, he has been wrong so many times abd his vibe is just yuck.
I am 82 years old... I well remember elections "back when" that when the election was over people went back to normal life... there are just way too many yelling and screaming at the same time about whose best, calling each other liars and thieves and general pandemonium. When an election is over these same wackos (on both sides) start again. All we have in the world anymore is elections... I'm thoroughly fed up!
An election campaign should be no longer that a month, donations (particularly commercial donations) should be capped... not millions of dollars a day!
And people shouldn't get so loud and nasty... go into the booth, mark your ballot and get on with life. Period.
I'm 78, and I say that back then, elections were run on reason and discourse.
Now they are run on emotions. That's why there is so much yelling and screaming before and after the elections.
Well, girls, I’m 84 and certainly remember a lot of emotion when Nixon and Kennedy ran for President. It’s good we can still get emotional about something in our old age!
Amen it seems the real evil came when they allowed hidden money to fund campaigns. i'm US gov and I have to file a statement of my finances. Why do they not have to abide? Cuz rules are only for the little people. We too need to outlaw lobbying and bills need to be separate. You can never tell who voted for what.
Hey! If you want politics free comedy, checkout my Substack!
Hummm. I like the idea of categories, but this move creates the potential for Substack to elevate viewpoints it finds "worthy," while other viewpoints are not seen. Unless it's an algorithm that gathers every Substack post that fits a particular category, this has great potential for manipulation and should not be implemented. We already have the "correct information" spoon-fed to us by Legacy media.
Exactly... well said Lori!
Politics has never caused an argument
Truly the one place we can find common ground
😂
Behold the X-iffication of Substack
This has been happening now for about three months a very steep slide into X because the payment service which is called stripe is controlled by Elon so basically he runs both X and I’m sure he put amazing pressure on Hamish and these other guys who own Substack
Help. This is ruining my day.
Heaven help us I hope not.
BOOOOOO!!!!!!! I like Substack because it generally DOESNT have politics. If I wanted that, I’d hang out on Facebook or twitter (and I’m not on either). Give me the wild writing. Give me the fiction that will turn your stomach, make you laugh, and break your heart. Spare me the political bullshit. I’m not here for any of it.
Wiler , this Election day is Not Bullshit when our Freedom is at Stake . You Jerk !
The election and our freedoms aren’t bullshit…just having political content on substack is. There’s a place for it, but that place isn’t here.
….just to understand, and to speak for many, the only reason I subscribe is for the politics. I am a junkie and need real news sources since we’ve been taken over in the “real” press.
Emphatically disagree. Substack is for all kinds of writers and creators. And some people write and create content about politics. Also, if you don't just write off all of it as "political bullshit," you might find some unique voices that are saying things that are quite different than the typical bullshit you hear from each side.
It is for me . This Election is Very , Very Important. Read the Comment the person Posted
I think you might be on the wrong app.
You said " I think " that's an Assumption . Not Fact
It was an observation, actually. Mine.
Bryan I agree with you and Thaila. I do not need Substack to duplicate other platforms.
Checkout my Substack then. It's politics free comedy!
I’m in! Feel free to check out my page too.
Will do!
Unless it’s a pure op-ed piece I think that each article should also post its sources of information.
Funny because there was once a time I considered substack a destination to read content that wasn't political.
Check me out!
Mainstream media have been hauntingly silent on Alex Dobrenko running as a third candidate and yet the public clamors for it. What is Substack's official position? Will Alex Dobrenko (immigrant, sure, but feels American as 100% beef) be given a space to shine in this new section??? The eyes of the world are upon you
I see where Substack is promoting all the "names" it's wooed on to the platform.
Am I missing where Substack is promoting the small writers who have grown up organically on the platform and would no doubt appreciate a bit of a publicity boost?
I know there are several "small" Substacks whose writing and commentary far surprasses what the "names" put out. By promoting the "small" Substacks along with the "names" you would be making a useful stand for quality of content.
When the small content providers win the entire platform wins, including the names. Why not embrace a promotions strategy that helps everyone win?