A routine reminder that it's always a good idea to boycott #Substack.
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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
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@jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net @_elena@mastodon.social On top of that: even if it's "only" one fascist, if you don't chase them away, you'll end up with a nazi bar. So yes, it is a good idea to invest energy into this phenomenon, @codebuzz@indieweb.social. "Laten we het gezellig houden" is exactly how these undercurrents can fester and grow.
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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 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.
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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 warms my heart to see this post. I *still* see many allies, even on the fediverse, using and boosting SS newsletters.
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@jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net @_elena@mastodon.social On top of that: even if it's "only" one fascist, if you don't chase them away, you'll end up with a nazi bar. So yes, it is a good idea to invest energy into this phenomenon, @codebuzz@indieweb.social. "Laten we het gezellig houden" is exactly how these undercurrents can fester and grow.
@stiiin @jwildeboer @_elena @codebuzz
"even if it's "only" one fascist"
It isn't. SS (thanks for the abbreviation
) is full of those.
Tate is only one of many, and it has been a problem for a long time with SS suppoti that kind of people. -
@stiiin @jwildeboer @_elena @codebuzz
"even if it's "only" one fascist"
It isn't. SS (thanks for the abbreviation
) is full of those.
Tate is only one of many, and it has been a problem for a long time with SS suppoti that kind of people.@mndflayr yes and the racism and health misinformation on there is running rampant. Last year I was doing a deep dive into their publications and the lack of moderation. I was horrified by what I found.
People on here encouraged me to stay positive and work on promoting the fediverse instead, so I gave up on writing about SS... but it's a big regret TBH. Maybe I still have "receipts" (aka screenshots) somewhere...
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@_elena warms my heart to see this post. I *still* see many allies, even on the fediverse, using and boosting SS newsletters.
@hwll I hear you. I have multiple IRL acquaintances who have paid Substack newsletters
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@hwll I hear you. I have multiple IRL acquaintances who have paid Substack newsletters
To be more useful I would point at the need to boycott #dotcons in general, yes use one as an example, but the bigger evil matters more than the individual evil.
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@stiiin @jwildeboer @_elena @codebuzz
"even if it's "only" one fascist"
It isn't. SS (thanks for the abbreviation
) is full of those.
Tate is only one of many, and it has been a problem for a long time with SS suppoti that kind of people.@mndflayr I'm aware. My point was that, even if the guy's initial assumption would be correct, his general insistence to be tolerant of the intolerant makes things worse.
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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 This is funny to me. I have been boycotting substack for the longest time, almost since its inception, but for a completely different reason. I hate that they mess with the scrollbar style, or they used to, I haven't seen their page in so long I don't know anymore. They used to have this single pixel wide scrollbar, that was just useless trendy designer bs. And I was pissed. To me any company that prioritizes stupid design decisions over utility gets the boot. Looking at you too apple.
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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 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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@_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
@_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.
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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 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.
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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?
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@jwildeboer @codebuzz @_elena @codebuzz sounds like a fascist enabler.
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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 made the change recently and decided to self-host. Besides endorsing these blogs the reading experience was a mess and was getting worse everyday.
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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 Ahem.
Veza85UE (@Veza85UE@eupolicy.social)
Peter Sloterdijk could never. (I'm serious though, bring this man to the fediverse, his PeerTube would be 🔥.)
EUpolicy.social - A Mastodon server for the EU bubble (eupolicy.social)
(Non-zero chance that if someone contacts him and pitches PeerTube and Ghost as
Sovereignty he'll give it a go, lol.) -
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 - Musk's X is headed in that direction.
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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 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.
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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 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.
