The Twit Of Twitter
Tessa Lena had the first article that I saw on Twitter officially resuming the pre-Elon Musk censorship, Twitter is Censoring Substack. Tessa's emphasis was on Twitter not allowing Posts that contained Links to Substack to be “Liked”, and she gives a solid yet concise background of social media and how it's been a double-edged sword from the outset.
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Tessa's article Links one by el gato malo, “bluebird bans are back”. That article explains it's not just "Likes" that are banned, but also notes:
"they have long been suppressing substack. when you guys use the automatic “post to twitter” feature to post my work there, you basically get zero views. it’s clear the algo is crushing you. that seems to have always been so."
el gato malo goes on to explain that things have suddenly got much worse:
"apparently, any tweet with a link to a substack in it can now no longer be liked, commented on, or re-tweeted.
it can only be quote tweeted and those quote tweets in turn cannot be liked, commented on, or re-tweeted.
if you try, as i did here, you get a message that the 'actions have been disabled by twitter.'"
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Matt Taibbi, who I've read since his days back at Rolling Stone (before Rolling Stone became almost completely flushable), had a short Post, "The Craziest Friday Ever":
“Earlier this afternoon, I learned Substack links were being blocked on Twitter. Since being able to share my articles is a primary reason I use Twitter, I was alarmed and asked what was going on.
It turns out Twitter is upset about the new Substack Notes feature, which they see as a hostile rival. When I asked how I was supposed to market my work, I was given the option of posting my articles on Twitter instead of Substack.
Not much suspense there; I’m staying at Substack. You’ve all been great to me, as has the management of this company. Beginning early next week I’ll be using the new Substack Notes feature (to which you’ll all have access) instead of Twitter, a decision that apparently will come with a price as far as any future Twitter Files reports are concerned. It was absolutely worth it and I’ll always be grateful to those who gave me the chance to work on that story, but man is this a crazy planet.”
_________________________________
I read the email about Substack Notes when it was sent earlier this week. Perhaps when I can write full time I'll look into expanding into that, sooner if my imagination is captured by others being the “beta testers”.
So why is Twitter on a rampage against Substack? To me, it makes no sense. Twitter is more for those happy to get short snippets of information not exceeding 280 characters. Substack, for those more into essays. It struck me as nice for Substack to make it easy to check off a box and have a summary posted to Twitter. A win-win, two media companies helping promote each other's product.
We've been told that Elon Musk bought Twitter to promote free speech, and that it wasn't to make a lot of money. Musk, like him or not, has shown himself to be sharp, witty, and capable of responding quickly to events.
As of this writing, I didn't find anything in Musk's Twitter feed about this.
I would have expected Musk to have jumped on this right away. Blame and fire some underling, perhaps giving them a nice golden parachute as the sacrificial lamb departed or disappeared, but take control and stop the nonsense.
Musk didn't.
Why drop a two-ton anvil on a mosquito? Time has probably already run out for Musk to undo the damage gracefully.
My last Posts ostensibly sent from Substack to Twitter were one on April 6th, two on April 7th. At no time did Twitter notify me that they were shot down in midflight. My last Post that made it to Twitter was on April 5th.
I'll wait for the dust to settle, and especially to see what happens with Matt Taibbi who gave Twitter a whole lot of credibility it lacked up until his series, “The Twitter Files”. Perhaps Musk will have a credible Mea Culpa, but given the—in “internet time”--ridiculous delay, it's probably going to be too little too late.
Your Move, Elon.
Substack Permalink:
https://terrylclark.substack.com/p/the-twit-of-twitter
_________________________________
Tessa's article Links one by el gato malo, “bluebird bans are back”. That article explains it's not just "Likes" that are banned, but also notes:
"they have long been suppressing substack. when you guys use the automatic “post to twitter” feature to post my work there, you basically get zero views. it’s clear the algo is crushing you. that seems to have always been so."
el gato malo goes on to explain that things have suddenly got much worse:
"apparently, any tweet with a link to a substack in it can now no longer be liked, commented on, or re-tweeted.
it can only be quote tweeted and those quote tweets in turn cannot be liked, commented on, or re-tweeted.
if you try, as i did here, you get a message that the 'actions have been disabled by twitter.'"
_________________________________
Matt Taibbi, who I've read since his days back at Rolling Stone (before Rolling Stone became almost completely flushable), had a short Post, "The Craziest Friday Ever":
“Earlier this afternoon, I learned Substack links were being blocked on Twitter. Since being able to share my articles is a primary reason I use Twitter, I was alarmed and asked what was going on.
It turns out Twitter is upset about the new Substack Notes feature, which they see as a hostile rival. When I asked how I was supposed to market my work, I was given the option of posting my articles on Twitter instead of Substack.
Not much suspense there; I’m staying at Substack. You’ve all been great to me, as has the management of this company. Beginning early next week I’ll be using the new Substack Notes feature (to which you’ll all have access) instead of Twitter, a decision that apparently will come with a price as far as any future Twitter Files reports are concerned. It was absolutely worth it and I’ll always be grateful to those who gave me the chance to work on that story, but man is this a crazy planet.”
_________________________________
I read the email about Substack Notes when it was sent earlier this week. Perhaps when I can write full time I'll look into expanding into that, sooner if my imagination is captured by others being the “beta testers”.
So why is Twitter on a rampage against Substack? To me, it makes no sense. Twitter is more for those happy to get short snippets of information not exceeding 280 characters. Substack, for those more into essays. It struck me as nice for Substack to make it easy to check off a box and have a summary posted to Twitter. A win-win, two media companies helping promote each other's product.
We've been told that Elon Musk bought Twitter to promote free speech, and that it wasn't to make a lot of money. Musk, like him or not, has shown himself to be sharp, witty, and capable of responding quickly to events.
As of this writing, I didn't find anything in Musk's Twitter feed about this.
I would have expected Musk to have jumped on this right away. Blame and fire some underling, perhaps giving them a nice golden parachute as the sacrificial lamb departed or disappeared, but take control and stop the nonsense.
Musk didn't.
Why drop a two-ton anvil on a mosquito? Time has probably already run out for Musk to undo the damage gracefully.
My last Posts ostensibly sent from Substack to Twitter were one on April 6th, two on April 7th. At no time did Twitter notify me that they were shot down in midflight. My last Post that made it to Twitter was on April 5th.
I'll wait for the dust to settle, and especially to see what happens with Matt Taibbi who gave Twitter a whole lot of credibility it lacked up until his series, “The Twitter Files”. Perhaps Musk will have a credible Mea Culpa, but given the—in “internet time”--ridiculous delay, it's probably going to be too little too late.
Your Move, Elon.
Substack Permalink:
https://terrylclark.substack.com/p/the-twit-of-twitter
posted by TLC's Place at 12:51 AM
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