Platformer, the tech news site, is leaving Substack. “We’ve seen this movie before — and we won’t stick around to watch it play out.” (I’m making exceptions to my no-linking-to-Substack policy for why-we’re-leaving-Substack posts.)
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I was ready to launch a long-form newsletter on Substack on January 1, with several pieces formatted, scheduled, and ready to go. I canceled the launch because of this "paradox-of-Nazi-tolerance" situation. I'm still trying to figure out where to move it to. Ghost? Buttondown? My own Wordpress site (again)? It's not clear what the right next step is.
I truly wish there was a simpler and more secure WordPress with built-in email newsletter capacity that won't send you to spam quickly.
Same here. I'm glad I hemmed and hawed over my overall theme because I have yet to officially start anything beyond creating my account. My Dad fought the Nazis and as an historian I will always emphasize the evils of Nazism. So unless I can find a way to combat Nazism from within Substack, Substack is going to be an entirely unacceptable venue.
I've been running a newsletter in Buttondown for a while now, and it's a decent service and does a good job delivering emails. I enjoy writing in markdown and having posts render exactly as I expect, so that's plus in my book. Also the founder, Justin, replies to emails quickly and is quite helpful. I recommend it! (However, what it won't do is help you build out a following through algorithmic recommendations the way Substack does.)
@Jasper That's (a big) part of what I'm looking for - a built-in recommendation engine to help people find my work. I'm surprised other services aren't at least trying to do that.
I think built-in algorithmic recommendations is what opens the Pandora's box of content moderation - it's the difference between being a pure software provider (as Substack initially was) vs a social media platform (as Substack is becoming)
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