21 Comments
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Phil Ladden's avatar

Hi Sherman ... if ya think Twitter was too negative in 2016, you should have seen what happened the following years 😆 You've totally nailed it for Substack Notes. Sharing positivity! That's it for me. 🔥

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Wayne Robins's avatar

I'm ambivalent about Notes. I worry about it being a new social media but with a closed loop of other Substack writers. I love to write here, but I don't want to live here. Your thoughts,

Sherman?

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

I want the closed loop of writers and readers. I'll leave Notes if it becomes Twitter-esque.

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Wayne Robins's avatar

I was hoping it could be a direct-to-email for both of my paid subscribers. (Do we have emojis here? Joke.) But I guess I can do that anyway, with more short, frequent posts to people who go through the toll booth. When my teaching semester is over in a few weeks, I'll have plenty of time to continue struggling to figure it out.

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James Maynard's avatar

Notes is leaving me traumatized, because I was looking for shelter from the social media storm. Can I ask what the negatives were over the positives, and . . . what do you think the difference on Substack will be?

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

For me, on previous social media, it was the direct personal attacks directed at me but also the direct personal attacks on pretty much everybody else. The ever-present ads. The way social media incentivizes the horrid. Some of my favorite writers became terrible people on Twitter. So far, Notes seems to be a constructive place. I think a vast majority of Substack readers and writers want a strong sense of decorum in social media. And Notes, in its infancy, seems to have that decorum. I've seen a few folks trying to bait people but it hasn't worked. There are a few people whose first Note was a dumb troll. But they were mostly ignored. But what happens if Twitter dies? What happens when the trolls start showing up in larger numbers? As I've written in a few places, my Notes escape pod will be idling and ready!

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Jeanette Brown's avatar

I’m glad you’re here trying out Notes. Me, too. I’ve been meaning to reach out and share a piece inspired by one of yours, written about your mom. Mine is about my father. It flowed out after listening to one of your books. 🙏🏻 https://dontsummeup.com/2020/parent-loss/my-father-was/

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Jeanette Brown's avatar

He didn’t do the best job, but it was a true labor of love.

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Coincidentally, my novel in progress features a redhead woman who is the daughter of a Lutheran minister.

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Jeanette Brown's avatar

A complicated character for sure. I will read with great interest. Thanks for taking the time to read my piece!

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Oh, wow. This caught me hard: "My father was colorblind and devoted the year after my mother died to sorting her 20+ boxes of fabric by color."

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James Maynard's avatar

I understand that Substack has to evolve, and it has a good chance to grab at us writers who are tired of Twitter. It makes sense. I hope it won't evolve into losing comments on posts though, because that's where I've enjoyed having the conversation. Thanks for the response.

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Yeah, I don't want to spend a ton of time having to delete comments. We'll see how it goes!

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Joan DeMartin's avatar

Sounds good! I'm going to try this, too.

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David's avatar

See you on there !

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Michael Mohr's avatar

I tried it also. Seems cool. A small part of me is getting slight alarm bells a la Substack starting to possibly morph into something a little too akin to Twitter? Maybe I'm wrong. I hope.

Michael Mohr

"Sincere American Writing"

https://michaelmohr.substack.com/

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

I'm very scared of it!

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Maureen Gil's avatar

I joined on Notes as well. Hoping it is better place than Twitter!

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

So do I!

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Terry Freedman's avatar

I've been wondering what use Notes might be put to that doesn't create more noise so to speak. I "restacked" a comment in order to start a discussion, so I'm interested that you've started a discussion on Notes too. I shall explore now!

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Yeah, I've got my escape pod on standby when it comes to Notes!

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