Twitter fires a shot at Substack!
... and now I'm excited about Notes
What an interesting day of developments between Twitter and Substack. Apparently, Substack put out this promo a few days ago about a new feature that’s coming called Notes:
There’s no doubt that this is meant to basically be Substack’s Twitter. And I completely get the move; heck, I’m really excited about it! When I got booted off Twitter in January over some nonsense, I moved full-time over here. It was actually really stimulating and I was enjoying building something that was my own. But the one thing I missed was the ability to communicate the little things. The random thoughts I just want to throw out in the wind, or a recent experience I wanted to share. Not something that is big enough for it’s own article, but if you lose all these ‘little’ things, you lose so much. I missed this dearly when I was in Twitter exile, as I have grown to enjoy my discussions with you all immensely. It’s become a huge part of my life. And all of a sudden, even though I could write a long piece, that was all gone. It bummed me out, as I wrote about here…
Enter Notes. That is going to take Substack to a new level, assuming they generate the continual crowd. And I unquestionably believe they will. This place is really growing! There are tremendous writers here, and now lots of big names who have basically begun potential media empires in their infancy through this platform. Bari and The Free Press, Matt Taibbi’s work here, etc. My stock for Substack couldn’t be higher. I know of several people who lurk here throughout the days now, instead of traditional SM like Twitter. There is phenomenal content on this site. And Notes looks like it’s going to provide that missing glue.
Well, Elon found about this and banned Substack links from the Bird. Old ones can’t be replied to or liked, and new ones can’t be posted at all. It appears you can get around that right now with a domain front, but I assume he’ll close that up. Taibbi wrote a few articles here about the developments, and it was pretty wild! The end of the story is that he is moving off Twitter entirely and going to plunge into Notes, which I assume he is already using in the Beta test. It also sounds like it caused a rift between the two of them as he commented that he may be done with Twitter Files completely (sounded like that wouldn’t have been his choice) and then this happened…
LOL Ridiculousness. But needless to say, bigtime developments in our new indie media landscape! And to be honest, I couldn’t be more excited. I have been eager to migrate my time and energy more over here and work on something material rather than just screaming into the Twitter wind. I had no idea this Notes was coming, and now there may suddenly be a significant shift over to Substack. I feel like things are happening fast and happening for a reason, and I want to be part of it!
So I plan on diving back into this place bigtime. I really want to work with audio and video. I have a few projects in mind and want to enrich this place with more than just writings. I just recorded my first “Unscripted” segment, which will be regular rants of just raw thoughts I have on my chest. No preparation or editing, not a polished product, just a chance to communicate directly with you in a much different and richer form.
I have been eager to work on some short impact clips, primarily on a few important COVID topics. Almost like walking through some of my old threads while I narrate on top. Simple visuals like studies and articles as I explain, in essence, the same topics I’ve been writing about on Twitter for two years now. There are several I believe are still really important to try and spread awareness of though: natural immunity and the lies surrounding it, the transmission story, duration, threat level to kids, the disappearing flu and PCR tests/false positives/”with COVID”, etc. So much of our nation is still flying blind on all of that stuff. Still believe COVID was all above board. And even many who are aware there was impropriety I don’t think grasp the nuts and bolts. I’d like to try and walk through some of my receipt collections in like 2-4min clips. I’m also giving thought to recording some longer conversations with some of my favorite people I’ve met in this digital realm. We’ll see where it all leads.
Lastly, I wanted to mention that I do intend on soon sealing some of my content off for paid subscribers. I have been so honored to receive payments from some of you when I’ve been offering nothing in return. The whole site is still free today. It meant more to me than you could know, and really sparked something inside of me to see if I can take this all out for a spin of my own. I don’t feel right taking money when there is no value provided beyond that I do for free. I feel I owe it to those who support me in that manner. My initial thought is that I’m likely going to put all the audio work behind the paywall. I don’t believe I’m going to do that with writings, because the goal here is still to get the message out and help turn this tide. I feel that putting the ‘preview and then you must pay’-thing on my writing here is too counterproductive. I feel the same way about comments because I love our discussion so much. It’s THAT energy I want to port here! You all are the magic and the hope, not me. I’ve just been able to rally us together. The audio can be a portal people can choose to explore if they want to sign up, and I can always put an audio recording out on another platform if I want it to try and reach more ears. I’m going to leave this first Unscripted open, and then likely turn that audio and video section to private. I’m also giving a ton of thought to out-of-the-box ways to reward paid subscribers. Possibly regular live chats, or Spaces we hold, an idea I’m playing around with of a Writer Incubator, etc. It’s challenging, but I’m going to work hard on building value here as your support was so incredibly motivating at a time I needed it.
All and all, I am thrilled about these developments! Our media landscape is going through seismic shifts right now as they continue to prove so rotten and institutional trust collapses. I actually think the situation at MSM outlets like CNN and the alphabets is even worse than they’ve led us to believe, and it already looks Hindenburg. Only the brain-locked trust them now, not those who are plugged in. I truly believe the future is in indie outlets and places like this. I think you’re watching it form before your eyes with projects like Bari’s and Glenn’s new studio. It may damn well be what saves our country. Cheers, my friends. I’m excited about what the future may hold!
The bad news: If there's a Taibbi/Musk rift, we all lose. No sugar-coating that.
The good news: The Twitter/Substack standoff will be seen as a stupid move on Twitter's part. Another of Elon's iterations that didn't work out, and he'll find a way to unscrew it. The man wears his heart on his sleeve, and that's not great for a CEO. He needs a Gwynne Shotwell for Twitter. Soon.
The better news. Theo will be on Substack more, and he's gonna explore some features we might not heavily use. Notes does look promising, if for nothing other than being hard on trollbots.
The best news: Theo's gonna make a run at getting paid. We're awash in paid liars. It's time to give them competition. Telling the truth has to pay better, or the USS Republic is sunk for sure. We're taking on water, a lot of water, but damage control is a thing and we may yet right the ship. All is NOT lost, the times, they can be a-changin'. But only if we do the work. Theo does the work, and there needs to be a payoff for that. Time for normies to step up. If, and only if, you CAN support folks like Theo, do so.
And, find a little room for someone you might not agree with,, but that is telling you the truth anyway. Like Bari Weiss and The Free Press, as Theo mentioned. An outfit like Bari's can reach people that wouldn't give Theo the time of day. And in the end, a broad coalition will be needed to get the Truman Show cancelled. That's all there is to it.
I just found out about this last night. I don't want to pay Twitter to write longer posts (that people still have to click "read more" on to see it all), when I could be using Substack where people see the whole posts at once and pay me.
I didn't even notice the emails from Substack about notes. I may never have known about it or been interested in it, but if I'm going to be penalized on Twitter and rewarded on Substack, I'd rather go with Substack.
One thing that's weird is that the notes feature isn't even fully out, and this was a pre-emptive strike by Twitter. It is the Streisand Effect. I don't think nearly the same amount of people would be talking about it (or using it when it gets implemented) if Twitter had done nothing.