HI debbie, i am being blocked from commenting by certain people that are still pushing electric vehicles.
It's not from a paywall but I get the "there's a problem with posting your comment" I have randomly posted numerous other comments without problems, but one will not allow me.
If I understand correctly, we would be better off spending less energy on internet communication and more on initiatives such as (international) paper magazines. Big Tech rules the internet
I suggest somebody who knows somebody in the tech industry ask them to start planning now and build an alternative to Substack (call it Freestack dot com or something). Besides Debbie’s article, I heard on Geopolitics and Empire that Substack posters or readers in Australia are losing access because they’re being required to face scan first via an app from the Silicon Valley company called “with persona dot com” (the “with persona” is all one word in the URL line). The new Freestack site ideally would have a functionality allowing Substack posters to migrate their materials on Substack to Freestack.
I'm afraid the internet is not the future for free speech. Big Tech will always find ways to block and censor. We better put our energy in classic paper (international) magazines
While I am a writing amoeba, my writing has been influenced by responses to it. You could call it "discouragement" - why providing uncommon viewpoints to obviously detrimental policies? Best example has been the Kirk affair.
People should never forget that zionists have a chokehold on western society. Their agents and handlers not only pay large amounts of money for propaganda pieces, they are also actively destroying the inconvenient musings of "not widely known" writers. 1984 was written because of 1933 and we are already experiencing dystopian circumstances - with people too distracted to acknowledge.
We have seen much censorship online of course but I don’t find the above terribly persuasive. There are other explanations. Yes, Twitter et al suppress Substack links but that is likely commercial as much as anything - why send all your traffic to a direct competitor? Falling paid subscribers - we are 5 years on from the outset of COVID and some people are moving on, combined with terrible economy which hits discretionary spending. No more free subscribers - arguably Substack has reached a saturation point with many new writers but only so many consumers.
I don’t know if it’s censored likely it is and I cannot download the app because my iPad is too old so it’s likely that factors in what I see. I can tell you though nearly all the posts that pop up in my feed are old old old. Some as old as three months.
That is a good test for Rice and Lerman themselves, also Latypova and others. Nobody gets a free pass. Will some vague promises from Substack be enough for them? My guess is that it will be enough for them...but not enough for We The People.
Another good test for Substack authors is if they keep comments open to non subscribers and free subscribers -- permanently. This requires work on their part to weed out obvious abusers and trolls but demonstrates a commitment to free speech and opening up these platforms.
I didn't mention Latypova, but I'm very grateful that she, Lerman, and Rice keep their comments open. There is no obligation for them to do that, and some other top Covid dissident stackers do it differently. The one I really wish would open up its comments is Focal Point/Courageous Discourse. But it's their call.
On your first point, I would trust Lerman and Rice, IF substack had the decency to open a dialogue on this, to not settle for vague promises. 100%.
It was always on my mind that by creating a ghetto for a certain kind of author, analysis of arguments, analysis of engagement, analysis of who follows-pays etc was made easier. The other sm platforms are bloated with keyboard warrior bs and thus cloud the analysis. Substack ghetto. A bit like Gaza.
In a recent article, I explained that I was trying to develop “a little (marketing) niche for myself” as one of the handful of Substack authors who is focussing on “curious trends on Substack.”
Upon further reflection, that niche might not be too tiny.
Substack has 35 million-plus users. If only 1-in-200 (0.5 percent) of these readers are interested in this topic, that would be 175,000 Substack users or subscribers.
If only 5 percent of these 175,000 people (with a keen interest in this subject) took out a free subscription to my newsletter, that would be 8,750 new subscribers that subscribed to my newsletter just because I was exploring this subject in some depth.
8,750 new subscribers would more than double my current subscriber number of 7,900.
My guess is that “someone” doesn’t want me to reach these 175,000 possible subscribers - a figure that might double my readers and subscribers.
IMO, this thought exercise illustrates that the reach of certain authors could easily expand significantly, but won’t if reach-suppression algorithms are somehow being deployed to retard any potential growth in readers and subscribers.
My initial knee jerk reaction is twofold: 1Substack writers are effing with "someone's" cash flow and 2.Substack writers in general are effing with the proclaimed goal of controlling social media by certain parties for narrative manipulation.NOTE: These two are NOT mutually exclusive. Here's a clue which is purposely obfuscatious: For more information look at the political connections of the mega investors involved. Where is that Matrix Buster Dude when we need him?
Hi Debbie, I am dismayed but not surprised to hear that Substack is being maniplated. Following the money always seems to expose the hidden hand. I heard about the Andreesen acquisition and thought it would be a problem. Your mentioning July rings a bell.
I subscribed to your Substack a while ago with no payment problems. Since then, on two occasions I have had to use a second card becuase my usual card would not make the payments even when I told the bank the payees were not criminals.
I am running this account down with the intention of closing it. I hope all the amazing people you mentioned can find a way around this, because for all the fine words from the Substack founders the site would now seem to be compromised.
There’s at least self-censoring because the MAHA crowd does not like open, transparent discussion:
https://thescamdoctor.substack.com/p/hall-of-infamy?r=6hgshq
HI debbie, i am being blocked from commenting by certain people that are still pushing electric vehicles.
It's not from a paywall but I get the "there's a problem with posting your comment" I have randomly posted numerous other comments without problems, but one will not allow me.
Is this a glitch or a pattern?
Thannk you!
Subsh*t is commieware located in san fagsicko! Just like LLMs fashioned from stolen intellectal property.
Plus its one of the worst apps i have used, it has no way of cataloging or tracking the posts that I have saved.
Coinkydink?
Yes.
If I understand correctly, we would be better off spending less energy on internet communication and more on initiatives such as (international) paper magazines. Big Tech rules the internet
I suggest somebody who knows somebody in the tech industry ask them to start planning now and build an alternative to Substack (call it Freestack dot com or something). Besides Debbie’s article, I heard on Geopolitics and Empire that Substack posters or readers in Australia are losing access because they’re being required to face scan first via an app from the Silicon Valley company called “with persona dot com” (the “with persona” is all one word in the URL line). The new Freestack site ideally would have a functionality allowing Substack posters to migrate their materials on Substack to Freestack.
I'm afraid the internet is not the future for free speech. Big Tech will always find ways to block and censor. We better put our energy in classic paper (international) magazines
No doubt others may have observed but there are more than just dissident and contrarian writers on substack.
СБОР ДАННЫХ
When you were at Harvard did you know a Faculty of English student Garth Jonson (no h), per chance?
While I am a writing amoeba, my writing has been influenced by responses to it. You could call it "discouragement" - why providing uncommon viewpoints to obviously detrimental policies? Best example has been the Kirk affair.
People should never forget that zionists have a chokehold on western society. Their agents and handlers not only pay large amounts of money for propaganda pieces, they are also actively destroying the inconvenient musings of "not widely known" writers. 1984 was written because of 1933 and we are already experiencing dystopian circumstances - with people too distracted to acknowledge.
We have seen much censorship online of course but I don’t find the above terribly persuasive. There are other explanations. Yes, Twitter et al suppress Substack links but that is likely commercial as much as anything - why send all your traffic to a direct competitor? Falling paid subscribers - we are 5 years on from the outset of COVID and some people are moving on, combined with terrible economy which hits discretionary spending. No more free subscribers - arguably Substack has reached a saturation point with many new writers but only so many consumers.
I don’t know if it’s censored likely it is and I cannot download the app because my iPad is too old so it’s likely that factors in what I see. I can tell you though nearly all the posts that pop up in my feed are old old old. Some as old as three months.
The simplest questions:
1) Why won't Substack meet with censorship-worried stackers like Rice and Lerman for a public discussion session?
2) Why won't it issue detailed answers, and from its top ranks, to their investigations and speculations?
That is a good test for Rice and Lerman themselves, also Latypova and others. Nobody gets a free pass. Will some vague promises from Substack be enough for them? My guess is that it will be enough for them...but not enough for We The People.
Another good test for Substack authors is if they keep comments open to non subscribers and free subscribers -- permanently. This requires work on their part to weed out obvious abusers and trolls but demonstrates a commitment to free speech and opening up these platforms.
I didn't mention Latypova, but I'm very grateful that she, Lerman, and Rice keep their comments open. There is no obligation for them to do that, and some other top Covid dissident stackers do it differently. The one I really wish would open up its comments is Focal Point/Courageous Discourse. But it's their call.
On your first point, I would trust Lerman and Rice, IF substack had the decency to open a dialogue on this, to not settle for vague promises. 100%.
It was always on my mind that by creating a ghetto for a certain kind of author, analysis of arguments, analysis of engagement, analysis of who follows-pays etc was made easier. The other sm platforms are bloated with keyboard warrior bs and thus cloud the analysis. Substack ghetto. A bit like Gaza.
Here’s a thought experiment:
In a recent article, I explained that I was trying to develop “a little (marketing) niche for myself” as one of the handful of Substack authors who is focussing on “curious trends on Substack.”
Upon further reflection, that niche might not be too tiny.
Substack has 35 million-plus users. If only 1-in-200 (0.5 percent) of these readers are interested in this topic, that would be 175,000 Substack users or subscribers.
If only 5 percent of these 175,000 people (with a keen interest in this subject) took out a free subscription to my newsletter, that would be 8,750 new subscribers that subscribed to my newsletter just because I was exploring this subject in some depth.
8,750 new subscribers would more than double my current subscriber number of 7,900.
My guess is that “someone” doesn’t want me to reach these 175,000 possible subscribers - a figure that might double my readers and subscribers.
IMO, this thought exercise illustrates that the reach of certain authors could easily expand significantly, but won’t if reach-suppression algorithms are somehow being deployed to retard any potential growth in readers and subscribers.
My initial knee jerk reaction is twofold: 1Substack writers are effing with "someone's" cash flow and 2.Substack writers in general are effing with the proclaimed goal of controlling social media by certain parties for narrative manipulation.NOTE: These two are NOT mutually exclusive. Here's a clue which is purposely obfuscatious: For more information look at the political connections of the mega investors involved. Where is that Matrix Buster Dude when we need him?
Hi Debbie, I am dismayed but not surprised to hear that Substack is being maniplated. Following the money always seems to expose the hidden hand. I heard about the Andreesen acquisition and thought it would be a problem. Your mentioning July rings a bell.
I subscribed to your Substack a while ago with no payment problems. Since then, on two occasions I have had to use a second card becuase my usual card would not make the payments even when I told the bank the payees were not criminals.
I am running this account down with the intention of closing it. I hope all the amazing people you mentioned can find a way around this, because for all the fine words from the Substack founders the site would now seem to be compromised.
Thank you for sharing this info!