David, cheers. I haven't plugged into the 'community' around Substack much yet but perhaps this can act as an inspiration to do so. Looking forward to future exchanges of ideas. The Proust quote resonates!
This perhaps is a slight tangent, but I also have been using Substack more as a provider of newsletter software than a platform to find interesting writers/content. Matt Yglesias makes an interesting observation about the implications of software vs. social:
“Substack does a lot of little things like recommendations and leaderboards to try to make the platform more valuable and lucrative. And I like that, in the sense that I certainly want to maximize the readership of Slow Boring. But it does get you into a conversation in which it’s hard to just plead pure neutrality. What if an overtly white supremacist site were number two on the politics leaderboard? That’s a bad look. So I’m not saying Substack should be trying to deplatform Nazis. But Substack should also constantly be trying to make business and product decisions that are consistent with their desire to be doing minimal content moderation.”
That is a keen observation. I actually once had someone link one of my articles in a post. It was a post about a recent $300MM donation to Harvard that I critiqued as "as close as possible to [accomplishing] zero good." This was the first time that someone had ever organically linked to me with a broad network (thousands of substack subscribers) and so I was excited. I became FAR less excited, though, when I realized that the linker was basically a conspiracy theorist that liked my article only because it was, in a sense, critical of higher education...
The tradeoffs between minimal content moderation and sociality are really clear when framed like that. Like Yglesias, I'd be mortified if my blog was next to a Nazi blog on some list.
I find it hard to believe that after looking at one of my social media posts, that you regret it. Thicc Tony and I flexing shirtless with a huge ass unicorn behind us created by AI. C’mon. And please share the days you were in a slump because I think that you almost never have slumps while I have more than my fair share.
I love 5 and 6. I think part of my photography obsession also stems from my pea brain understanding some of the chemistry, the management of light, and how cameras work to freeze time. But, I don’t know how to repair mechanical cameras but definitely want to learn. Sometimes I get nervous my understanding of subjectivity won’t help me during an apocalypse. Or maybe it will in some monumental way. But we should all learn how to repair stuff. Cheers to more making things and making progress.
David, cheers. I haven't plugged into the 'community' around Substack much yet but perhaps this can act as an inspiration to do so. Looking forward to future exchanges of ideas. The Proust quote resonates!
This perhaps is a slight tangent, but I also have been using Substack more as a provider of newsletter software than a platform to find interesting writers/content. Matt Yglesias makes an interesting observation about the implications of software vs. social:
“Substack does a lot of little things like recommendations and leaderboards to try to make the platform more valuable and lucrative. And I like that, in the sense that I certainly want to maximize the readership of Slow Boring. But it does get you into a conversation in which it’s hard to just plead pure neutrality. What if an overtly white supremacist site were number two on the politics leaderboard? That’s a bad look. So I’m not saying Substack should be trying to deplatform Nazis. But Substack should also constantly be trying to make business and product decisions that are consistent with their desire to be doing minimal content moderation.”
That is a keen observation. I actually once had someone link one of my articles in a post. It was a post about a recent $300MM donation to Harvard that I critiqued as "as close as possible to [accomplishing] zero good." This was the first time that someone had ever organically linked to me with a broad network (thousands of substack subscribers) and so I was excited. I became FAR less excited, though, when I realized that the linker was basically a conspiracy theorist that liked my article only because it was, in a sense, critical of higher education...
The tradeoffs between minimal content moderation and sociality are really clear when framed like that. Like Yglesias, I'd be mortified if my blog was next to a Nazi blog on some list.
Do let me know if you find any gems out there
I find it hard to believe that after looking at one of my social media posts, that you regret it. Thicc Tony and I flexing shirtless with a huge ass unicorn behind us created by AI. C’mon. And please share the days you were in a slump because I think that you almost never have slumps while I have more than my fair share.
I’ll always make time for your unicorn thirst traps, my friend
I love 5 and 6. I think part of my photography obsession also stems from my pea brain understanding some of the chemistry, the management of light, and how cameras work to freeze time. But, I don’t know how to repair mechanical cameras but definitely want to learn. Sometimes I get nervous my understanding of subjectivity won’t help me during an apocalypse. Or maybe it will in some monumental way. But we should all learn how to repair stuff. Cheers to more making things and making progress.
Right? I remember learning how to make a pinhole camera in school and it blew my mind. I miss understanding how things work.