21 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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See you on there !

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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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I'm very scared of it!

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

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So do I!

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

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