Recently I observed the five month anniversary of deleting my Twitter account after 15 years of being an active user. I’ve tried Mastodon but the habit didn’t stick. My Facebook and Instagram posts are infrequent at best. I’ve basically fallen off the microblogging wagon and I don’t see myself getting back on. I have some thoughts about Twitter but I think I’ll hold onto them a bit longer.
But wait a minute, another shoe has dropped.
During the past few months it seems like Substack is trying to capitalize on the instability of the Musk Twitter era by launching new functionality. Substack Notes, as I understand it, is poised to duplicate much of the same microblogging functionality as Twitter within our own Substack networks. This after Substack Chat was launched several months ago. And other tweaks.
I really don’t know what to think about Substack Notes - I haven’t looked at it yet. Do I need another place to share notebook excerpts and other stuff? Or to communicate with H.A.T.T.E.R.s (How About This Terribly Enthusiastic Readers)? Or will I miss out if I don’t at least try this?
Over to you, H.A.T.T.E.R.s: what are your initial thoughts (if any) about Substack Notes? Does it seem to be the killer app you’ve been dying to get? Are you planning to avoid it at all costs? Or are you planning to take a wait and see approach?
I’d like to hear what you think about this! Please leave a comment! Also, I’m going to post this to Substack Chat as well because, honestly, I haven’t done that for awhile.
A great post with some really interesting questions, Mark!
I haven't been active on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook for several years, and I'm very glad of that. I am easily overwhelmed, and choose not to engage with traditional social media. It's interesting: I've seen quite a few posts here recently in which writers have described their struggles with burnout and overwhelm, in some cases announcing that they are stepping away from social media for a while.
And here we are.
Hello, 'Notes'! And hello again, 'Chat'! Nice to meet you, but I don't feel I want to get to know you right now. You may be very useful strings to the bows both of Substack and its readers and writers, but I'm going to keep slinging my own literary arrows right here towards the target I've got to know and love since I first dived in last summer, before you were perhaps even a glimmer in Substack's eye.
I’m kind of interested in Notes - I think, with the increasing unusability of Twitter, it has potential, and also a lot of writers already have homes here, which is more than a lot of the Twitter replacements have had going for them. I think it’ll be some time before we see the effects of Notes + Twitter’s continued crumbling but it’s the first one where I’ve been like “hmmm that may go somewhere, we’ll see.”
A great post with some really interesting questions, Mark!
I haven't been active on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook for several years, and I'm very glad of that. I am easily overwhelmed, and choose not to engage with traditional social media. It's interesting: I've seen quite a few posts here recently in which writers have described their struggles with burnout and overwhelm, in some cases announcing that they are stepping away from social media for a while.
And here we are.
Hello, 'Notes'! And hello again, 'Chat'! Nice to meet you, but I don't feel I want to get to know you right now. You may be very useful strings to the bows both of Substack and its readers and writers, but I'm going to keep slinging my own literary arrows right here towards the target I've got to know and love since I first dived in last summer, before you were perhaps even a glimmer in Substack's eye.
And I'm happy with that. 😊
Sounds perfectly reasonable to me!
I’m kind of interested in Notes - I think, with the increasing unusability of Twitter, it has potential, and also a lot of writers already have homes here, which is more than a lot of the Twitter replacements have had going for them. I think it’ll be some time before we see the effects of Notes + Twitter’s continued crumbling but it’s the first one where I’ve been like “hmmm that may go somewhere, we’ll see.”
Interesting thoughts there. I'll be watching. I already see a number of Substack publishers working to establish footholds in Notes.