It is too early to judger where Twitter is going, but if you try to build an alternative on Substack you will make a crucial mistake: paying attention to what others do instead of improving your own product.
Before trying to explain why Twitter should not be replicated here, I will list a few things that in my view need to be improved on…
It is too early to judger where Twitter is going, but if you try to build an alternative on Substack you will make a crucial mistake: paying attention to what others do instead of improving your own product.
Before trying to explain why Twitter should not be replicated here, I will list a few things that in my view need to be improved on Substack:
- Managing subscriptions is laborious.
- Making recommendations is difficult. Maybe I am not that bright, but I couldn't figure out how to recommend a post, other than "like". Organise the saves. Help readers to build their Substack libraries, thus making it more useful and stickier.
- The Stats are poor. I cannot see an overall snapshot of my posts, country of origin, and which posts are favourite. This is the single biggest area that can be improved.
- Finding Substack publications could be better. Maybe have some sort of rating, a summary of readers perception, etc.
- I admit I am not ready to invest in writing, but I want to. Substack is simple, is beautifully made for just writing, but it can be better. If you really want to promote Private Social Networks, invest in technology to make it easier for writers to group, to collaborate, make it easier for readers to organise their inbox feed by category, preferences etc.
Twitter is an exceptional platform for distribution and discovery of information. Substack can greatly benefit from that. You should recognise the power of Twitter in promoting Substack. This is how I found out about it.
As the conversations below can attest, chatting on Substack will quickly evolve to look like Twitter banter. Why chat when you can comment? I hope you stay focus on Substack and make it the best publishing platform ever, rather than try to make it a social network Twitter style. Let the writer take their content to the world wherever they want and let Twitter worry about how to manage the discourse. Otherwise you will open the Pandora box of vile political argumentation which will antagonise writers/subscribers. Once you start that, there is no end to it, and you will have to worry about content moderation, just like Elon.
I hope you are not upset by my feedback. I listen to your podcasts and I liked them. Substack is made in that spirit and it should stay like that, and get so much better, like nothing else. It is the difference between reading a book and reading short arguments. Substack is a retreat, an invitation to contemplate, think, not argue. I surely hope it stays that way.
It is too early to judger where Twitter is going, but if you try to build an alternative on Substack you will make a crucial mistake: paying attention to what others do instead of improving your own product.
Before trying to explain why Twitter should not be replicated here, I will list a few things that in my view need to be improved on Substack:
- Managing subscriptions is laborious.
- Making recommendations is difficult. Maybe I am not that bright, but I couldn't figure out how to recommend a post, other than "like". Organise the saves. Help readers to build their Substack libraries, thus making it more useful and stickier.
- The Stats are poor. I cannot see an overall snapshot of my posts, country of origin, and which posts are favourite. This is the single biggest area that can be improved.
- Finding Substack publications could be better. Maybe have some sort of rating, a summary of readers perception, etc.
- I admit I am not ready to invest in writing, but I want to. Substack is simple, is beautifully made for just writing, but it can be better. If you really want to promote Private Social Networks, invest in technology to make it easier for writers to group, to collaborate, make it easier for readers to organise their inbox feed by category, preferences etc.
Twitter is an exceptional platform for distribution and discovery of information. Substack can greatly benefit from that. You should recognise the power of Twitter in promoting Substack. This is how I found out about it.
As the conversations below can attest, chatting on Substack will quickly evolve to look like Twitter banter. Why chat when you can comment? I hope you stay focus on Substack and make it the best publishing platform ever, rather than try to make it a social network Twitter style. Let the writer take their content to the world wherever they want and let Twitter worry about how to manage the discourse. Otherwise you will open the Pandora box of vile political argumentation which will antagonise writers/subscribers. Once you start that, there is no end to it, and you will have to worry about content moderation, just like Elon.
I hope you are not upset by my feedback. I listen to your podcasts and I liked them. Substack is made in that spirit and it should stay like that, and get so much better, like nothing else. It is the difference between reading a book and reading short arguments. Substack is a retreat, an invitation to contemplate, think, not argue. I surely hope it stays that way.