At this point, if a social network refuses to join the Fediverse, I’m not interested.

Anyone trying to build yet another proprietary walled garden is just a mini-Musk.

You do not need a billionaire or a VC fund to use social media.

They are just middlemen opportunists trying to insert themselves between you and your friends.

The Internet was built to make it easy for you to connect with others, and that is getting easier with protocols like ActivityPub.

You don’t need Elon Musk. You don’t need Mark Zuckerberg. You certainly don’t need any Silicon Valley tech bro to let you use social media.

To people who say that Elon Musk won't buy Substack because he could "barely afford" to buy Twitter: Substack is no unicorn.

Substack's current valuation sits at $585 million.

That might be an over-estimation because its revenue for the entirety of 2022 was probably $18.6 million.

Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion. He can assuredly buy Substack if he wanted it.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/28/23660473/substack-retail-investors-revenue-profit

I've worked for a social media start-up before. In fact, I was an early employee at a well known one. I know how this goes.

Founders start with the best of intentions.

But then VCs start making demands. And at that point, startups go for the fastest, easiest method to acquire revenue growth. That is, if they want to stay on board.

A good many of them take their exit as soon as it becomes available. Just look at Instagram and WhatsApp.

If Elon Musk walked into Substack's office right now (probably with a sink) and offered them $585 million to buy it, do you think their shareholders would say "No"?

Not on their life.

They would be skipping for joy. Everyone who owns equity in Substack would be popping open bottles of champagne.

Meanwhile, all those writers that Substack is paying will now be under Musk's thumb -- yet again.

This is why the Fediverse is the better choice compared to Substack.

Some folks might be thinking, “Unlike the Fediverse, Substack gives writers an opportunity to get paid.”

Not so fast.

When @TexasObserver was nearly shut down because they lacked funding for operations, they turned to the Fediverse for help.

Within 48 hours, we helped them raise $250,000 in funding—and now that 70-year-old newspaper still lives.

As a result, 17 journalists still have their jobs.

🤣

“But Elon Musk could buy all 23,000 Fediverse servers and do the same thing here!”

I assure you that my servers are not up for sale. And from speaking to numerous other admins, they won’t be selling either.

You see, for the same reason people play basketball because it’s fun—not because they want a $50 million NBA contract—many of us run and operate Fediverse servers.

But it’s amazing that some people can’t imagine doing things without a profit motive.

Imagine if people asked the silly “How do you make money?” question about other hobbies.

“You play chess. How do you make money from it?”

“You eat cheese. How do you make money from it?”

“You own a cat. How do you make money from it?”

Maybe I do these things for their own sake—because they give me joy.