Substack Notes Launched • Hacker News Board

Re: Substack Notes Launched

#671

Post by rybar » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 10:30 AM UTC

Gareth321 wrote: post #668

jeroenhd wrote: post #622

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you consider difficult about it?

Mastodon is never going to take off. I’ve been building SaaS applications for 15 years. I don’t think you understand the very low level of complexity required for mass adoption. Let’s just look at the signup process for a few minutes, using the UX convention of actions. Twitter: 1. Search for Twitter. 2. Click on the first link. 3. Click sign up. Mastodon: 1. Search for Mastodon. 2. Click the first link: mastodon.soc…

Excellent illustration of the awful onboarding experience.

No one wants to waste their time connecting a constellation, they want to get to content as fast as possible.

Re: Substack Notes Launched

#672

Post by rybar » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 10:32 AM UTC

jeroenhd wrote: post #623

IshKebab wrote: post #450

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does Twitter load without JavaScript? I do not think the tiny number of uber-nerds who disable JavaScript have any effect on Mastadon.

I disable Javascript on occasion to save power. Twitter definitely does not load without loading several megabytes of Javascript. Nitter.net is a quick and easy substitute that loads instantly without it, though some video playback still requires Javascript (HLS video).

How much power have you quantified saving by disabling JavaScript over the course of a week?

Re: Substack Notes Launched

#673

Post by k_pres » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 10:37 AM UTC

Incipient wrote: post #651

lapcat wrote: post #524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This notes thing looks like an attempt to pivot to an advertising based business model It's not. Substack is very clear about that. https://on.substack.com/p/notes-faq "The ultimate goal on Substack is to convert casual readers into paying subscribers. Because the Substack network runs on paid subscriptions, writers are rewarded for respecting the trust and attention of their audiences, not exploiting it like with…

Because no company would ever lie about their intentions, or at the very least pivot to the exact opposite of their original point without a second thought. Would they?

Clearly not. No company would ever betray their original principles for the opportunity to make more money in the short term

Re: Substack Notes Launched

#674

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 10:45 AM UTC

mlindner wrote: post #661

Omatic810 wrote: post #660

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the report, the claim had no misinformation. https://beamdisinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Antisemit... Hate speech IS up. The claim was "hate speech is up". Impressions being down matters to the impact of the speech, but the claim stands - hate speech is up. You can claim it doesn't matter (and I might agree with you, since impressions are down, people know what to expect now, and the increase is signifi…

I'll retract my opinion that "hate speech is down" as it's apparently difficult to measure but I am going to continue to say that "hate speech is up" is at the very least "highly misleading" as it gives the impression that the platform is worse for minorities than it was pre-acquisition. The reverse is the truth, given the lower impressions of hate speech, it effectively means that those that would verbally attack mi…

[deleted]

Re: Substack Notes Launched

#675

Post by m_ke » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 10:53 AM UTC

neural_thing wrote: post #630

m_ke wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They raised a ton of money on a high valuation, spent 25mil to make 1 mil last year and are now scrambling to raise a new crowd sourced round because they don't want to get wiped out in a down round. This notes thing looks like an attempt to pivot to an advertising based business model and I'm guessing they think they have "influencers" on their platform to bring in a decent audience.

Their 2021 revenue is $12M. We don't know their 2022 revenue. Your numbers are just wrong. Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1783191/000167025423...

Yeah sorry about that, I was just repeating something I heard on a podcast and it looks like they assumed that was top line revenue and took 10% of it.

I’d edit the post but it’s too late to do so.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35534035

Re: Substack Notes Launched

#676

Post by Tepix » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 11:06 AM UTC

getcrunk wrote: post #556

2h wrote: post #496

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is a case where an algorithmic feed would make this into a truly amazing product. how many platforms need to be ruined by an algorithmic feed before people understand that its a terrible idea?

The terrible idea is only having an algorithmic feed. If you always offer the user the option to not use it and instead have a feed they can control, then it’s a non issue

Is there a way to get rid of suggestions on Instagram?

Re: Substack Notes Launched

#677

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 11:12 AM UTC

Incipient wrote: post #651

lapcat wrote: post #524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This notes thing looks like an attempt to pivot to an advertising based business model It's not. Substack is very clear about that. https://on.substack.com/p/notes-faq "The ultimate goal on Substack is to convert casual readers into paying subscribers. Because the Substack network runs on paid subscriptions, writers are rewarded for respecting the trust and attention of their audiences, not exploiting it like with…

Because no company would ever lie about their intentions, or at the very least pivot to the exact opposite of their original point without a second thought. Would they?

[deleted]

Re: Substack Notes Launched

#678

Post by brigandish » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 11:23 AM UTC

astrange wrote: post #641

brigandish wrote: post #632

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is your contention that now you've been shown a more serious bug than you'd experienced previously that it's an indication that there were not similar or worse bugs in existence before the takeover? Even if I myself hadn't experienced more serious bugs than those prior to the takeover, it'd still seem a stretch.

I mean, yeah, bugs that get you in legal trouble are the worst kind. Their traditional largest issue is their terrible ad targeting but that's not gotten better.

Private tweets aren't private, they're limited audience. If you're saying something defamatory behind "private" tweets then, I hate to break it to you, it's still defamation. You might get some mitigation from limiting the audience but that's it.

Re: Substack Notes Launched

#679

Post by lapcat » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 11:39 AM UTC

quaintdev wrote: post #667

m_ke wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They raised a ton of money on a high valuation, spent 25mil to make 1 mil last year and are now scrambling to raise a new crowd sourced round because they don't want to get wiped out in a down round. This notes thing looks like an attempt to pivot to an advertising based business model and I'm guessing they think they have "influencers" on their platform to bring in a decent audience.

I remember there was a time when people were excited about medium. Then medium needed some money so they started blocking readers behind login dialog boxes. Then come substack and everyone got excited about it. Sooner or later it will be on same path that medium took. When will we realise that blogging websites (not personal blogs) are not sustainable in long run.

> Then come substack and everyone got excited about it. Sooner or later it will be on same path that medium took.

Substack is already far, far more paywalled than Medium ever was. Subscriptions are the business model.

Re: Substack Notes Launched

#680

Post by nkozyra » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 11:41 AM UTC

quaintdev wrote: post #667

m_ke wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They raised a ton of money on a high valuation, spent 25mil to make 1 mil last year and are now scrambling to raise a new crowd sourced round because they don't want to get wiped out in a down round. This notes thing looks like an attempt to pivot to an advertising based business model and I'm guessing they think they have "influencers" on their platform to bring in a decent audience.

I remember there was a time when people were excited about medium. Then medium needed some money so they started blocking readers behind login dialog boxes. Then come substack and everyone got excited about it. Sooner or later it will be on same path that medium took. When will we realise that blogging websites (not personal blogs) are not sustainable in long run.

One could argue that social media is technically all "blogging websites"

Advertising works there because of the numbers. People will quickly consume enough bite sized content to drive traditional numbers.

Medium broke the things that made them appealing in an attempt to sweeten the advertising sell, but this made the platform unappealing. It was a self inflicted wound.