The Twitter vs Substack Saga — On April 7th, users of Substack realized that when they’d post links to their posts, others could not engage with them in any way. They could not like, retweet, or comment (only quote tweet).
A spit and a spat. How the story ends is important. Maybe an assumption led to another, emotions involved, drama. I’m the end Twitter is still tweeting and we have a new feature to play with on Substack. We need competitive platforms. We win!!
The lesson of the Twitter files was that people who don't want to face competition for power and ideas will use any reason, no matter how flimsy or inaccurate, to shut down any actors that they see as hostile to their control.
Elon Musk learned that lesson well. If you can't like or retweet and a post is hidden, it is de facto blocked. So Taibbi was right. "Employed" is a matter of connotation. Did Substack give Taibbi money to guarantee and income so he could build his Substack (and thereby grow the platform)? Yes. We don't know all the details, but it looks like it. But the connotation of "employed" that Musk uses is that of one being directed. I don't think that was the case with Taibbi. Taibbi was still, it sounds, self-directed and autonomous.
As for Substack downloading from Twitter . . . I'd have to know the specifics of what they were downloading.
At first glance this seems like a lack of communication. But given Twitter's (I won't say Musk because I don't know) pettiness and the fact that Musk also wants to do something similar to Substack (in addition to Substack developing Notes), I'd say that Musk is threatened by Substack and overreacted. He bit off more financially than he wants to chew with Twitter.
Having been on Notes today, while I think it has potential, I don't know that Musk has anything to worry about. It felt very chaotic.
Of course, the big lesson here is not putting your faith in any one person.
But certainly the latter, though "Rape of the Lock, Part Deux" may be more accurate.
Still, something of a petulant over-reaction on Musk's part, about which I'm particularly peeved since I suspect I've been suspended there for my frequent tweets of several of my Substack posts -- which Twitter has apparently seen as "spamming".
Of maybe some interest, my open letter to Twitter -- Before Musk -- about an earlier suspension:
Trust takes a long time to earn, and a second to be destroyed or whatever the phrase is...you get the point.
Whether it Elon or anyone else, yes - of course it causes trust concerns. No statement prior, or even at the time of alleged hack/data breech.. Just pow, and people's income takes a hit.
I don't use Substack but have been extremely tempted in the past... I put myself in the position of what if I've spent Q1 working my balls off growing a following on Twitter then dropped an absolute skyscraper piece of content written on this very platform right during this time laced with a couple of grand on promoting it. I'd be fuming, but more importantly I would have no recourse. What if I contacted support or 'PR', a poop emoji; I get Elon, I get the fun, and emojis and memes ARE fun, but integrity and transparency are what builds trust regardless of emojis/memes etc.
Granted, this isn't exclusive to Twitter but these 'shoot from the hip' close quarter combat moves are, and that's the concern.
I pay for Facebook and Instagram adverts; they work. If the ad/adset isn't approved or will be limited in reach I am told why; transparency.
This goes beyond Substack, I don't know what the truth is and suspect very few do but I can say with near certainty there will have been a plethora of not insignificant sized companies watching this, with marketing managers going 'hmm'.. "I think we'll be cautious" and rightly so.
Blocking Musk's Twitter account in November of last year immeasurably improved my Twitter experience, and I have never bought into the portrayal of Musk as a "free speech" saviour. I wouldn't put anything past that guy and continue to enjoy Twitter despite him.
I've given him a great deal of benefit of the doubt, but I judge people based on their actions and many have not coincided with words unfortunately. I know many will disagree with me, but that's my perspective and I can back it up with concrete examples as I have no anti-Musk bias.
I think there's so much noise--from all sides--regarding Twitter and its inner workings that I admire anyone willing to dive deep into it to try to find some semblance of truth.
All the way across the Internet, virtually everybody is smarter than Elon Musk, and everybody considers him a legitimate target.
Furthermore, most of his actions are aimed directly at “them” whoever they are.
I’m not asking people to shower him with praise for everything he does, just for the same amount of tolerance they would allow anyone meaningful in their lives
I see these complaints come and go, his “promises“ blamed as dishonesty until resolved, and then ignored with implied resentment.
What the hell? Is there no gratitude in the world anymore?
Twitter is my favorite place to meet & engage w/ strangers about the topics I write about on Substack. About 13% of my subs come from Twitter. But owning an email list is everything. This kerfuffle is like a post-it note reminder on my monitor to write, publish, repeat.
Certainly some reason to think that some are over-reacting to Musk -- no one complains until it is their own ox being gored. But while Twitter is entitled to make profit, it's still not hard to conclude that Musk has seriously over-reacted himself.
A spit and a spat. How the story ends is important. Maybe an assumption led to another, emotions involved, drama. I’m the end Twitter is still tweeting and we have a new feature to play with on Substack. We need competitive platforms. We win!!
The lesson of the Twitter files was that people who don't want to face competition for power and ideas will use any reason, no matter how flimsy or inaccurate, to shut down any actors that they see as hostile to their control.
Elon Musk learned that lesson well. If you can't like or retweet and a post is hidden, it is de facto blocked. So Taibbi was right. "Employed" is a matter of connotation. Did Substack give Taibbi money to guarantee and income so he could build his Substack (and thereby grow the platform)? Yes. We don't know all the details, but it looks like it. But the connotation of "employed" that Musk uses is that of one being directed. I don't think that was the case with Taibbi. Taibbi was still, it sounds, self-directed and autonomous.
As for Substack downloading from Twitter . . . I'd have to know the specifics of what they were downloading.
At first glance this seems like a lack of communication. But given Twitter's (I won't say Musk because I don't know) pettiness and the fact that Musk also wants to do something similar to Substack (in addition to Substack developing Notes), I'd say that Musk is threatened by Substack and overreacted. He bit off more financially than he wants to chew with Twitter.
Having been on Notes today, while I think it has potential, I don't know that Musk has anything to worry about. It felt very chaotic.
Of course, the big lesson here is not putting your faith in any one person.
"Sega" or "Saga"? 😉🙂
But certainly the latter, though "Rape of the Lock, Part Deux" may be more accurate.
Still, something of a petulant over-reaction on Musk's part, about which I'm particularly peeved since I suspect I've been suspended there for my frequent tweets of several of my Substack posts -- which Twitter has apparently seen as "spamming".
Of maybe some interest, my open letter to Twitter -- Before Musk -- about an earlier suspension:
https://medium.com/@steersmann/open-letter-to-twitters-board-of-directors-d1c87603a832
Far too much power in the hands of too many with such little accountability -- the "Tyranny of the Magistrates" as John Stuart Mill put it.
Trust takes a long time to earn, and a second to be destroyed or whatever the phrase is...you get the point.
Whether it Elon or anyone else, yes - of course it causes trust concerns. No statement prior, or even at the time of alleged hack/data breech.. Just pow, and people's income takes a hit.
I don't use Substack but have been extremely tempted in the past... I put myself in the position of what if I've spent Q1 working my balls off growing a following on Twitter then dropped an absolute skyscraper piece of content written on this very platform right during this time laced with a couple of grand on promoting it. I'd be fuming, but more importantly I would have no recourse. What if I contacted support or 'PR', a poop emoji; I get Elon, I get the fun, and emojis and memes ARE fun, but integrity and transparency are what builds trust regardless of emojis/memes etc.
Granted, this isn't exclusive to Twitter but these 'shoot from the hip' close quarter combat moves are, and that's the concern.
I pay for Facebook and Instagram adverts; they work. If the ad/adset isn't approved or will be limited in reach I am told why; transparency.
This goes beyond Substack, I don't know what the truth is and suspect very few do but I can say with near certainty there will have been a plethora of not insignificant sized companies watching this, with marketing managers going 'hmm'.. "I think we'll be cautious" and rightly so.
Time will tell.
Blocking Musk's Twitter account in November of last year immeasurably improved my Twitter experience, and I have never bought into the portrayal of Musk as a "free speech" saviour. I wouldn't put anything past that guy and continue to enjoy Twitter despite him.
I've given him a great deal of benefit of the doubt, but I judge people based on their actions and many have not coincided with words unfortunately. I know many will disagree with me, but that's my perspective and I can back it up with concrete examples as I have no anti-Musk bias.
I think there's so much noise--from all sides--regarding Twitter and its inner workings that I admire anyone willing to dive deep into it to try to find some semblance of truth.
I think folks think Musk has certain political affiliations or biases. I think he belongs to the Party of Musk.
All the way across the Internet, virtually everybody is smarter than Elon Musk, and everybody considers him a legitimate target.
Furthermore, most of his actions are aimed directly at “them” whoever they are.
I’m not asking people to shower him with praise for everything he does, just for the same amount of tolerance they would allow anyone meaningful in their lives
I see these complaints come and go, his “promises“ blamed as dishonesty until resolved, and then ignored with implied resentment.
What the hell? Is there no gratitude in the world anymore?
Sorry, I have never trusted Mr. Musk and thought his program of transparency covered everyone but him.
Twitter is my favorite place to meet & engage w/ strangers about the topics I write about on Substack. About 13% of my subs come from Twitter. But owning an email list is everything. This kerfuffle is like a post-it note reminder on my monitor to write, publish, repeat.
Certainly some reason to think that some are over-reacting to Musk -- no one complains until it is their own ox being gored. But while Twitter is entitled to make profit, it's still not hard to conclude that Musk has seriously over-reacted himself.