A routine reminder that it's always a good idea to boycott #Substack.
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@_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.
@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/
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@_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
@NatureMC thank you for this! I remember seeing posts a while back about how new free subscribers on Substack looked like bots... something that helped the reputation of the company ("grow your network!")... I need to find the links to this
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@_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
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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
@_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.
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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
If I had a nickel for every time I see the word facist or nazi on mastodon or bluesky I could probably buy a new car. Can we stop throwing around the same two words??
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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
@_elena I‘ve just replaced a Substack link with the same article posted on Medium
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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
@_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.
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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
@_elena hello Charlie Angus the resistance is my microphone on while I’m yelling this at you?
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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
@_elena "with hundreds of paid subscribers" is enough to get lauded as a Bestseller? Or only if you're that guy?
I'm convinced
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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
@_elena I don’t need Nazis. I’ve got a red pill Alberta separatist insurgent neighbour with only double digit followers chat gpting cat fart filled angryprompts into that website nonstop.
and she links to insanity like this:
The Sovereign Sphere (@thesovereignsphere)
Exploring Biblical truths, Agenda 2030, Health Freedom and How to Leave Canada (and Where) with Samantha Lotus on the latest episode of The Sovereign Sphere. Watch Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXk1F5p0VcA&feature=youtu.be
Substack (substack.com)
So I don’t need to use her or nazis for an example. I can just go upstream to the things she’s looking at.
This is horrific.
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@_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.
@msmamet wholeheartedly agree. I bought a premium theme for my Ghost blog and luckily it didn't need much tweaking because it is indeed hard. Otherwise I love everything about it
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@jwildeboer I only abbreviated their name... pretty apt if you ask me... I also call Bluesky "BS"
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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
@_elena Thought that read Substack Bellend
get my new glasses next week, so unfortunately in this instance I won't make that mistake again, sadly -
@renardboy I'll take that
@jwildeboer -
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
@_elena idk but for me substack have been my go to go app .. depends what u are into though.. check the link on my profile maybe
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@_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
@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.
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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
@_elena Also, as a side note, I've seen a ton of homophobia and transphobia on Medium getting monetized as of late so that's another one to start avoiding.
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@jwildeboer thank you Jan! Perfectly said.
I think it sends a powerful message when people and institutions take a stand.
For example, the city of Paris quit X in January 2025 calling it "toxic" and denouncing the spread of misinformation that is rampant on it: https://cdn.paris.fr/presse/2025/01/16/6384c82a720b7042570efb650a66b339.pdf
I wish more cities, politicians, media organizations would follow suit. With X AND Substack
@codebuzz Aside from what @_elena and @jwildeboer said, I do think it is a good use of time and energy to introduce people to more open source, self hostable, and indie platforms...I know you get that. You're on indieweb.social, one of the best instances on Mastodon!
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@_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.
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.
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@hamishcampbell the thing I am curious about though is companies starting off as nice and then changing into #dotcons when they get bigger as people flock there when boycotting another platform that isn't nice anymore. What's the best protection against this never ending situation which potentially disperses and weakens communities?
