Mastodawn

mcuellar Apr 24

Elena Rossini 🌈

A routine reminder that it's always a good idea to boycott #Substack.

We have long known that it platforms and profits from Nazi publications. And now: #manosphere influencers with multiple accusations of serious crimes... so much so that there is a dedicated Wikipedia page about them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_affairs_of_the_Tate_brothers

No problem for #Substack though! They happily take a 10% cut from all paid subscriptions.

There are many great alternatives to SS: Ghost, Buttondown, beehiiv, Patreon... no more excuses

Jan Wildeboer 😷

@_elena Calling Substack the SS is kinda harsh, but justified in my opinion :)

Elena Rossini 🌈Apr 24

@jwildeboer I only abbreviated their name... pretty apt if you ask me... I also call Bluesky "BS" 🙊

an actual bus Apr 24

@_elena @jwildeboer

Deb Nam-Krane Apr 24

@_elena Same! @jwildeboer

Dave Everitt Apr 24

@_elena The line for me is between "free speech" and deliberately divisive "hate speech". The former we tolerate, even if we disagree, the latter should be subjected to the law or - where that fails - deliberate action to call it out and limit its spread. Especially when it's from sources already known to have committed crimes.

derptron Apr 24

@cubeExplorer @_elena Liberalism has to defend itself but I think part of that is that it does have to allow, if not tolerate, deliberately divisive and even hateful speech.

Group think is bad.

I think Popper called out the line pretty well: when they advocate that we don't discuss differences but instead raise fist or sword. That's when...well...you do, and you get it done.

Loohoosaher Apr 24

@_elena warms my heart to see this post. I *still* see many allies, even on the fediverse, using and boosting SS newsletters.

Petra van Cronenburg Apr 24

@_elena Please be aware that we have an #EuropeanAlternative based in Germany: #Steady - https://steady.page
I use them for years and am very satisfied, great for EU-conform invoices.
Like Patreon and other services where you can also earn money, of course, they also take a fee (only) on paid subscriptions.

The problem why so many people don't leave Substack: They get new readers from the platform. The smaller the platform, the fewer readers you get

#newsletter #blogging #journalism

Steady – You create. We take care of the rest.

Start your newsletter or membership on Steady – simple tools, real experts, and a team that grows with you. Get started for free now.

Steady

Petra van Cronenburg Apr 24

@_elena 2/2 directly from them. But let’s not kid ourselves: Substack's algorithms favour the stars. And they, in turn, might as well launch their own platforms, as their fans follow them everywhere. So there’s no reason not to give an alternative a try.

Niklas Korz Apr 24

@NatureMC @_elena Looks interesting, thanks for sharing! A bit unfortunate that they only offer payout through Paypal though.

Petra van Cronenburg Apr 24

@niklaskorz No, they have 4 payment offers: https://help.steadyhq.com/en/articles/6265640-how-to-make-a-payment

It's the creatives who choose their offers.

Many choose Paypal because it's widely accepted. Paypal has a bank status in the EU, and therefore much stronger regulations than elsewhere. And their invoices comply with the requirements of the tax authorities. Here in France, they are directly connected to them.
That means that I don't have any paperwork for my declarations, the invoices of Steady and Paypal comply 100%.

How to make a payment | Steady Help Centre

Petra van Cronenburg Apr 24

@niklaskorz Ah, sorry, I just see that you speak about the payout only. Yes that's Paypal: https://help.steadyhq.com/en/articles/6265682-do-i-need-a-paypal-account-to-receive-payouts

But feel free to ask/propose them alternatives!

Do I need a Paypal account to receive payouts? | Steady Help Centre

Mike Smale Apr 24

@NatureMC Steady is great to keep my writing out there as well as updates. I can't use Ghost because they require a debit/credit card to get started and my bank won't allow it to go through since they're based in Singapore, and Steady was a free alternative that is incredibly easy to use.

Petra van Cronenburg Apr 24

@earwigplanet Yes, that Singapore seat can be a problem.

@_elena and isn't the situation with Substack such that you can migrate your profile to a different platform rather than starting over? I still think platform migration fatigue is not given enough credit for being a legitimate excuse, but sticking to platforms that can migrate is a good idea.

Elena Rossini 🌈Apr 24

@Torithom ABSOLUTELY!

I had 2 Substack newsletters years ago and I simply exported my subscriber list and moved to Ghost. It took a few minutes. Easy peasy. That's why I say there are ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSES.

Ghost even offers a free concierge service for moving subscribers (incl. paid) off of Substack: https://ghost.org/move-to-ghost/

Ghost migration Service

Migrate your data to Ghost with help from our migration team. We'll help you move your content, subscribers, members and payments. For free.

Ghost - The Professional Publishing Platform

@_elena @Torithom @camless I suspect there is a small business model here; $50 to handle it for the folks for whom this feels too complicated (easy for *us*, but not them).

@WTL Or we address the structure that leads to so many platforms turning sour

@Torithom Off the top of my head, I'd say for-profit, VC backed social media will always chase all the money, so will take anyone as customers, no matter how distastefully fascist they are.

@WTL yes, and is there a track record of running not for profit then changing model later on? Like with OpenAI? Meaning there needs to be more mechanisms shown from the beginning for added assurity when committing to a new platform.

@Torithom True. Not a lawyer, but I suspect founding documents can be worded in a way to forbid that kind of transition. Depending where the org is, maybe launching as a charity for social good (or something similar) is the right direction; most laws around charities are very strict.

Mário Melo (Guma)Apr 24

@_elena I made the change recently and decided to self-host. Besides endorsing these blogs the reading experience was a mess and was getting worse everyday.

Veza85UE Apr 24

https://eupolicy.social/@Veza85UE/116420213182021373

(Non-zero chance that if someone contacts him and pitches PeerTube and Ghost as 🇪🇺 Sovereignty he'll give it a go, lol.)

@_elena - Musk's X is headed in that direction.

Tanek Rune Apr 24

@_elena
I still side-eye those who post to Substack. There's just a non-zero chance that they think my rights to exist without violence or discrimination isn't important the way their newsletters are.

I don't follow Substack links, it feels like the digital equivalent to wandering down the alleyway with a hate group meeting every few doors and hoping to come out the other side without them noticing me.

It's uncomfortable knowing a few posts down, someone is questioning whether I should be forcibly put in a conversion camp or some shit. Or outright calling for driving people like me out of their community.

The responses made by Substack definitely haven't helped any in making me think I'm welcome as their audience unless I want to put myself in a position to see horrendous "takes" like "God needs to smite these [slurs]."

TL;DR: I consider Substack to basically be a digital sundown town. No thanks, I'll go where I'm welcome.

Duckbilled Plattypus.Apr 24

@_elena I believe "Tate" is correctly pronounced "Taint".

I avoid reading Substack for this reason. It would be nice if the writers who rightly decry the empowerment of fascism and its targeting of the vulnerable weren't using the same site that explicitly does just that.

Matthew Mamet Apr 24

@_elena Ghost is the one I'd push hardest on that list. I moved my practice blog there about a year ago - setup is straightforward, you own your subscriber list outright, and the SEO tooling is solid enough that I stopped needing a separate layer on top. The one honest caveat: the theme customization requires comfort with code. For most writers though, the defaults are good enough to ship immediately.

Fazal Majid Apr 24

@msmamet @_elena

The blocker that is preventing writers from moving away from Substack is not technical migration issues, it's that they can reasonably expect their audience growth to stalll or even reverse when they leave the platform. Substack is good at cross-promoting, just as Medium or Tumblr were back in their day.

We don't have to like Substack to recognize this fact. I loathe the company for its Medium-esque hostile dark pattern-laden design, even before we discuss the fact it platforms actual Nazis.

Until there is an effective alternative solution to this discovery and audience acquisition problem, they will stay put on Substack despite any disquiet over the platform.

Petra van Cronenburg Apr 24

@fazalmajid But it’s precisely the high-profile prominent accounts that could leave at any moment, because they’re so well-known that their fans will follow them wherever they go. And they do promote their newsletters via social media, after all.
If they go - Substack would loose big amounts of money.

@msmamet @_elena

Deb Nam-Krane Apr 24

@fazalmajid Great, let them. But they can shut up about how antifascist they are unless they want to choke on their own hypocrisy. @msmamet @_elena

@_elena I‘ve just replaced a Substack link with the same article posted on Medium

Curmudgeon Apr 24

@_elena Yeah, I'm not happy about Nazi's, racists, etc. on Substack, but they also have Rick Wilson, HCR, Joyce Vance, and other fine progressives - some of the most important Antifa voices of this generation. I'll pass on the boycott. Let others see what Andrew Tate is all about. That's what we call free speech.

Mastodon Migration Apr 24

@Curmudgeon @_elena

The problem with this argument is that revenue earned by Substack is disproportionately used to support fascist ideology. So these great accounts are actually funding fascism, as is anyone who subscribes to them. That's not free speech, it's a failure to muster the courage of their convictions.

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES Apr 24

@Curmudgeon @_elena

"Rick Wilson, HCR, Joyce Vance"

We convince them to move

"That's what we call free speech"

Speech intended to limit the freedoms of those who are women, nonwhite, trans, gay, nonChristian, people with disabilities, etc is not free speech

How do you define speech against freedom as free speech?

Deb Nam-Krane Apr 24

@benroyce You are more generous than I am. The writers on Substack who made a name for themselves as antifascists should know better. Period. I have no use for people like that. Put your money where your mouth is.

It's disappointing, because there's a lot of people I've had to write off, but the eighth grader in me learning about propaganda during the Holocaust just *can't*.

@Curmudgeon @_elena

@dnkboston @benroyce @Curmudgeon @_elena what the actual fuck am I looking at?

Some freeze peach drivel?

Fuck off and go post on X or Meta. If you simp for fascists you're not welcome on the fediverse.