Ed Bott

Substack Notes is a hot mess.

I just blocked my first user there. He seemed genuinely deranged. His reply made no sense, with a timeline consisting of jumbled nonsense including a graphic asking “Was Hitler part Jewish?”

Here’s the really problematic part. Because I blocked this loon, I don’t have to see his ravings. But, unfortunately, you do. His comment still appears under my note, even though I don’t want that kind of interaction appearing under anything I have written.

Apr 16, 2023 at 2:12pmWeb
Show threadEd BottApr 16, 2023

And despite Substack management insisting that authors and readers are in control of the experience, this seems to be just a way of dodging the responsibility to moderate.

There is an option to report a comment and also an option to delete that comment, but both are only available in a full browser and are hidden under a menu that you need to scroll to find. I don’t see any way to restrict who can comment on my notes (although that feature is on the roadmap).

Show threadDwight SilvermanApr 16, 2023
@edbott It's definitely a case of building the airplane as it's being flown. Which is common for all the fledgling social networks.
Show threadFrank X. ShawApr 16, 2023
@dsilverman @edbott the q i have is that in the case the people building it know exactly what kind of turbulence to expect and still put on blinders and said "won't happen to us" re: any need for moderation and tools to support. Hello.
Show threadDwight SilvermanApr 16, 2023
@fxshaw @edbott Yes. It should be built in from the get-go, but that rarely happens. We’ve learned enough lessons at this point to understand what WILL happen with social networks, not what we hope WON’T happen.
Show threadWarner CrockerApr 16, 2023
@dsilverman @fxshaw @edbott Nailed it.
Show threadMaryPotApr 16, 2023

@dsilverman @fxshaw @edbott

As Ed Bott said, they have built it in - way down in a menu and only on web, not on app.

Show threadMike RoseApr 16, 2023
@edbott that seems like a big challenge for the yet-to-be-established moderation guidelines
Show threadShoqApr 16, 2023
@edbott cc @Green_Footballs
Show threadYurkshireLadApr 16, 2023
@edbott Substack forces you to use an app to view Notes. No web UI, so it’s of no interest to me.
Show threadsileApr 16, 2023
@YurkshireLad @edbott I've only used it in a browser, no app for me.
Show threadYurkshireLadApr 16, 2023
@sile @edbott hmmm every time I visit the site it opens the app in the iOS App Store.
Show threadsileApr 16, 2023
@YurkshireLad @edbott should have been more clear- I'm using Windows and Firefox or Chrome.
Show threadYurkshireLadApr 16, 2023
@sile @edbott ah yes, that makes a difference.
Show threadStephen FoskettApr 16, 2023
@edbott and this is how it becomes a nazi bar…
Show threadShoqApr 16, 2023
@edbott Twitter got a lot of crap for a lot of things they do wrong, but they did put some thought into Community Notes and knew it had to be a fully moderated experience. Musk seems to have crushed that plan, while Substack should go back and look at how it was structured.
Show threadAlan MartelloApr 16, 2023

@edbott I wonder if he’ll be able to rant in the future and visible to all except you?

Blocking as a moderation tool is tricky (useless?) if only some parties know they’ve been blocked.

Show threadEd BottApr 16, 2023
@amart I assume that "blocked" means he can't see or reply to my notes using that account.
Show threadSteveBolognaApr 16, 2023
@edbott
Show threadsbradycalhounApr 16, 2023
@edbott @cstross
Show threadWolf_BaginskiApr 17, 2023

@edbott I have seen that question about AH being the subject of a video on YouTube by the historian Mark Felton. Might not be the same graphic, I felt no urge to watch, and it could be an example of using a dangerous rhetorical question.

This topic needs a Content Warning on Mastodon.

Show threadErik HaugenApr 17, 2023

@Wolf_Baginski @edbott I'll keep the cw but why is it a dangerous question? I'm missing something here. (I wonder in what context Ed's "loon" was bringing this up.)

Hans Frank – head of Nazi Poland – told this story during his trials in Nuremberg, right? (He did it possibly as a way to distance himself from Hitler; he was very anti-semitic of course.)

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/study-suggests-adolf-hitler-was-a-quarter-jewish-597966 Hopefully we aren't suggesting jpost is problematically anti-semitic.

Interesting but ultimately not particularly consequential to anything.

Study suggests Adolf Hitler’s paternal grandfather was Jewish

Hitler’s right hand Hans Frank claimed to have discovered that the Fuhrer’s grandfather was indeed Jewish.

The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com