I like Substack. I use Substack, though I have always felt that the ‘Hamish’ side of the show is very opinionated about what we as writers should be allowed to do.
Just listened to ‘the’ Chris Best/Nilay Patel interview. He came across, like Hamish, a nice chap but definitely out of his depth.
The parallels between the two services (microblog and substack) seem very clear.
One is a newsletter service that has an ability to offer a blog, the other is a blog service that has an ability to offer a newsletter.
Both are software services that empower ‘the writer’.
one offers a communal timeline, whilst the other (now) offers a communal timeline.
The biggest difference is that substack is very high profile, micro blog continue to fly under the radar.
Which has me asking …
I wonder how Manton would answer the question Patel asked of Best?
@JohnPhilpin I was going to ask @Manton that question too but sometimes I feel like I ask too many questions 🙃 Will Microblog allow WhitesAreSupreme.micro.blog to exist?
@pratik @JohnPhilpin We are clear about hate speech in our guidelines and we do close accounts that violate them.
@jean I will have another read later. Certainly Chris Best and the peeps at Substack have their 'statement of clarity' and still he couldn't / wouldn't answer Nilay on the podcast.
.. and while I understand you would - and do - kick off the spam / free accounts that 'break the rules' ... have you ever kicked off a paying account?
To be clear - likely all very theoretical since micro blog is well below the radar, but it highlights how 'clarity' on MicroBlog, takes work and iterations - and you can even break the rules and not know 😬.
@JohnPhilpin @jean I started to reply — I hope I'm not butting in! — and got carried away into a full blog post (you know, unlike those other times when I don't ramble on and on 😅).
@JohnPhilpin @pratik As @jean said we do disable paying accounts if we have to, although I hope it will continue to be rare. I actually wrote about a specific case of this in my book chapter banning users. (Not updated yet for Elon's Twitter.)
@manton @JohnPhilpin @jean Now I remember reading that in the book but plenty of things have happened since then. You may have to define hate speech coz bigots often try to find loopholes and then claim victimhood.
@JohnPhilpin Haha! I can’t even when I try. I know that I’ve gained a reputation behind-the-scenes at Micro.blog for asking for too many features.
@supremus LOL! I certainly talk a lot around here and have been around a bit longer. But nope, nowhere near being a co-founder
@SimonWoods A+ for taking the time to write a separate post. 😇
Micro Camp is coming up May 19-20 and there will be an opportunity for community discussion. This also makes me think we could hold some “office hours” on a regular schedule.
