I post to challenge the world with "on the edge" ideas and ideals. I go to Notes to socialize as I am not in public at all, don't have acquaintances, don't participate in any social media. I don't expect much interaction but I've had a little. I always start with low expectations. Seldom disappointed.
I still prefer Substack before Notes. I knew people were discovering me and coming to my work for me. Now with Notes, some of them come, then disappear, so they weren't the target to begin with. But I still like to use it to share other people's work. If it gives more reach to them and to my work too, that is nice. But I don't want to spend too much time on it. Just read, write, and engage with how Substack was before.
I was surprised by how much I ended up liking Notes. My first reaction to it was, "Seriously? Another social media channel? sigh." But I've discovered fascinating Substacks thanks to it, and got to know newsletter writers better as a result. I am not a heavy user, but I use it enough to get by? If that makes sense.
I feel similarly about Notes. Would much rather subscribe to someone's occasional long-form thoughts than smaller bursts. I have enough trouble focusing as is.
For me it's just promotion. I share comments like this to Notes and let it be. Twitter is less than useless, although it'll be interesting to see how many defections there will be from Substack to their content creator platform. It'll never be for me. 12 novels! Impressed. I understand that level of dedication.
Let's hope Substack does not turn into Twitter 2.0. The shear thought of that makes me anxious and sad. I don't even know what the hell the "notes" are anyway and quite honestly, I have no interest in learning either.
Thanks for this post! I use Notes now and again. After all, many of us started a Substack newsletter to post articles instead of bouncing back and forth in conversations or debates like on social media messaging platforms.
I'm extremely wary of Notes and I've definitely noticed my impulse to strongly respond to Notes I disagree with. But I'm not doing that. In some sense, I'm training my brain to stay away from impulsive reaction. My mantra is, "Sherman, you are never gonna change anybody's mind about anything."
I could not agree more and I relate so much to a lot of what you’ve said about the negative impulses that arise from being on these platforms. I’ve never been on social media (which I view as a public service to others). I usually keep it contained, but even in forums where I’m just a commenter I can feel my deeply argumentative, competitive side begging to be unleashed. And I LOVE a good argument, even if I’m just playing devils advocate. But that’s not necessarily the most productive thing I can be adding to the conversation. I think things like twitter stoke that impulse and long form writing temper it with space for more thoughtful discourse. I hope so, anyway. Also, the time... who the hell has all that free time on their hands?
While I'm a huge user of notes, or at least attempting to be, I pretty much agree with your characterization. I think for me, the biggest realization, much to my dismay, is building a business online --regardless of the type of business--seems to require building up these platforms through engaging in short-form interactions. I do wish there was a better way--but how else do we let people know who we are or about our work? It seems you have been able to do it through talent and hard work--so that is very encouraging!
I appreciate your honest thoughts, especially how open you are being about your own flaws. Understanding and accepting yourself is very important, not only as a writer but also as a human being. Glad to see you found an audience through Substack. Hope to keep reading your work in future.
Some truth to this. I haven't read the comments at all, so apologies for any redundancies, but I think Notes offers more constructive conversations than Office Hours. That's mainly how I think of it. I've posted a few angsty things to Notes, including one about the stupid show Succession, and the engagement seemed to prove your point. Not that it was nasty or anything, but that my clickbaity post stirred people up, and that cycle fed itself for a while. What did I get out of that? A little vindication, I guess, that others felt the same way as me about that show. But that's pretty hollow.
I have, on the other hand, both hosted and participated in some excellent discussions about growth strategies. And I think we learn more about what's working with our business models and what isn't in Notes than we do buried in an endless scroll of comments in Office Hours. I was thinking about posting something just now about whether people have had any luck with hosting virtual book clubs. Sometimes the comment thread isn't enough. Seems like the kind of question that Notes exists to answer: others might have done that, and I can learn from them.
I post to challenge the world with "on the edge" ideas and ideals. I go to Notes to socialize as I am not in public at all, don't have acquaintances, don't participate in any social media. I don't expect much interaction but I've had a little. I always start with low expectations. Seldom disappointed.
"... a republic, if you can keep it."
"... a positive twitter-like platform called notes, if you can keep it."
Personally, I can't do much with it time-wise. I'm old school, too.
I use Notes as a photo stream. Way better than Insta cause no one is forced to join just another platform to follow my photos.
I still prefer Substack before Notes. I knew people were discovering me and coming to my work for me. Now with Notes, some of them come, then disappear, so they weren't the target to begin with. But I still like to use it to share other people's work. If it gives more reach to them and to my work too, that is nice. But I don't want to spend too much time on it. Just read, write, and engage with how Substack was before.
I was surprised by how much I ended up liking Notes. My first reaction to it was, "Seriously? Another social media channel? sigh." But I've discovered fascinating Substacks thanks to it, and got to know newsletter writers better as a result. I am not a heavy user, but I use it enough to get by? If that makes sense.
I feel similarly about Notes. Would much rather subscribe to someone's occasional long-form thoughts than smaller bursts. I have enough trouble focusing as is.
For me it's just promotion. I share comments like this to Notes and let it be. Twitter is less than useless, although it'll be interesting to see how many defections there will be from Substack to their content creator platform. It'll never be for me. 12 novels! Impressed. I understand that level of dedication.
Let's hope Substack does not turn into Twitter 2.0. The shear thought of that makes me anxious and sad. I don't even know what the hell the "notes" are anyway and quite honestly, I have no interest in learning either.
Thanks for this post! I use Notes now and again. After all, many of us started a Substack newsletter to post articles instead of bouncing back and forth in conversations or debates like on social media messaging platforms.
I'm extremely wary of Notes and I've definitely noticed my impulse to strongly respond to Notes I disagree with. But I'm not doing that. In some sense, I'm training my brain to stay away from impulsive reaction. My mantra is, "Sherman, you are never gonna change anybody's mind about anything."
I haven't even tried Notes yet.
Not on my mind.
But your essay is so well written
you hold my rapt interest
from beginning to end.
Your gift is in my face.
"(Damn! This dude can write!")
You are young, Michael.
Your high and full potential
is eminently reachable.
All great points, but at the end of the day, just do you. 👍👍
I could not agree more and I relate so much to a lot of what you’ve said about the negative impulses that arise from being on these platforms. I’ve never been on social media (which I view as a public service to others). I usually keep it contained, but even in forums where I’m just a commenter I can feel my deeply argumentative, competitive side begging to be unleashed. And I LOVE a good argument, even if I’m just playing devils advocate. But that’s not necessarily the most productive thing I can be adding to the conversation. I think things like twitter stoke that impulse and long form writing temper it with space for more thoughtful discourse. I hope so, anyway. Also, the time... who the hell has all that free time on their hands?
While I'm a huge user of notes, or at least attempting to be, I pretty much agree with your characterization. I think for me, the biggest realization, much to my dismay, is building a business online --regardless of the type of business--seems to require building up these platforms through engaging in short-form interactions. I do wish there was a better way--but how else do we let people know who we are or about our work? It seems you have been able to do it through talent and hard work--so that is very encouraging!
I appreciate your honest thoughts, especially how open you are being about your own flaws. Understanding and accepting yourself is very important, not only as a writer but also as a human being. Glad to see you found an audience through Substack. Hope to keep reading your work in future.
Some truth to this. I haven't read the comments at all, so apologies for any redundancies, but I think Notes offers more constructive conversations than Office Hours. That's mainly how I think of it. I've posted a few angsty things to Notes, including one about the stupid show Succession, and the engagement seemed to prove your point. Not that it was nasty or anything, but that my clickbaity post stirred people up, and that cycle fed itself for a while. What did I get out of that? A little vindication, I guess, that others felt the same way as me about that show. But that's pretty hollow.
I have, on the other hand, both hosted and participated in some excellent discussions about growth strategies. And I think we learn more about what's working with our business models and what isn't in Notes than we do buried in an endless scroll of comments in Office Hours. I was thinking about posting something just now about whether people have had any luck with hosting virtual book clubs. Sometimes the comment thread isn't enough. Seems like the kind of question that Notes exists to answer: others might have done that, and I can learn from them.