Post #1626862
2026-04-24 09:58 UTC
Replies (32)
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@jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net 2026-04-24 10:01
@_elena@mastodon.social Calling Substack the SS is kinda harsh, but justified in my opinion :)
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@cubeExplorer@mastodon.social 2026-04-24 10:41
@_elena@mastodon.social 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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@hwll@sunny.garden 2026-04-24 10:47
@_elena@mastodon.social 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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@bit@ohai.social 2026-04-24 11:14
@_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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@NatureMC@mastodon.online 2026-04-24 11:14
@_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 #newsletter #blogging #journalism
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@Torithom@theforkiverse.com 2026-04-24 11:17
@_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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@trelord@aus.social 2026-04-24 11:18
@_elena Prolly not a good sign when the abbreviation is SS.
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@melomario@mastodon.social 2026-04-24 11:38
@_elena@mastodon.social 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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@atlovato@mastodon.social 2026-04-24 11:44
@_elena@mastodon.social - Musk's X is headed in that direction.
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@msmamet@mastodon.social 2026-04-24 12:39
@_elena@mastodon.social 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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@vanzick@mastodon.social 2026-04-24 14:19
@_elena@mastodon.social I believe there’s space for anyone in the world to express their ideas, in Tate’s case the space inside a rubbish bin. Any respectable platform would never accept to profit from his disgusting and harmful propaganda, but then again Substack is not a respectable one.
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@Veza85UE@eupolicy.social 2026-04-24 11:42
@_elena Ahem. https://eupolicy.social/@Veza85UE/116420213182021373 (Non-zero chance that if someone contacts him and pitches PeerTube and Ghost as 🇪🇺 Sovereignty he'll give it a go, lol.)
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@Cassandra_Complex@beige.party 2026-04-24 11:51
@_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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@pattykimura@beige.party 2026-04-24 12:13
@_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.
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@Synthyx@social.vivaldi.net 2026-04-24 12:49
@_elena 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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@ronan@mastodon.ronandev.ovh 2026-04-24 12:59
@_elena I‘ve just replaced a Substack link with the same article posted on Medium
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@Curmudgeon@sfba.social 2026-04-24 13:00
@_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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@idren@mstdn.ca 2026-04-24 13:01
@_elena hello Charlie Angus the resistance is my microphone on while I’m yelling this at you?
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@uastronomer@mastodon.monoceros.co.za 2026-04-24 13:01
@_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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@idren@mstdn.ca 2026-04-24 13:07
@_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: https://substack.com/@thesovereignsphere/note/c-248088603?utm_source=notes-share-action 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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@robchapman@ohai.social 2026-04-24 13:18
@_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
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@Trixiemaina@mstdn.social 2026-04-24 13:23
@_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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@earwigplanet@mastodon.social 2026-04-24 13:42
@_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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@sayonaraminasan@urusai.social 2026-04-24 13:51
@_elena someone much wiser than myself once said https://infosec.exchange/@catsalad/116456782686227334
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@pheonix@hachyderm.io 2026-04-24 13:57
@_elena I didn't know substack platforms human traffickers, misogynists and xenophobes.
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@veronica@explains.social 2026-04-24 14:11
@_elena I've noticed a lot of folks have no idea what "Substack" is. They see a newsletter. It has information they agree with. They sign up. They don't think about it beyond that. Basically, if we want to take a bite out of the SS, I think we need to educate folks on what the uniform looks like. IMO that has to go hand-in-hand with reaching out to writers in our lives and encouraging them to look at alternatives.
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@Sassinake@mastodon.social 2026-04-24 15:10
@_elena@mastodon.social @rbreich@masto.ai
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@scottytrees@mastodon.social 2026-04-24 15:17
@_elena@mastodon.social real shame so many journalists still use substack, but you do you. i'm purging myself of most news stuff. it's just too depressing and too stupid and it isn't helping my mental health at all
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@LanceJZ@mastodon.social 2026-04-24 15:49
@_elena@mastodon.social today I learned 'Substack' is a thing, I'm boycotting it as of now.
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@winst0nsmith@mastodon.social 2026-04-24 17:07
@_elena@mastodon.social yeah this! feel like i've been beating this drum solo. thanks for reminding people!
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@kitkat_blue@mastodon.social 2026-04-24 18:57
@_elena@mastodon.social i have never given any money to substack so idk if that counts as 'boycotting" or not. As for their free speech policy, it is lifted directly from the ALCU fwiw: https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/defending-speech-we-hate
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@msmamet@mastodon.social 2026-04-29 19:45
@_elena@mastodon.social Just saw this announce from Ghost today and made me think of this thread. https://ghost.org/changelog/digital-public-good/