740 Comments

So disappointed in Twitter. I thought Elon was a big supporter of Substack. Terrible news, but so grateful for the work you and others did on the Twitter files.

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MATT, YOU DON'T NEED TO LEAVE TWITTER. There is a work-around for the Substack block.

Karlyn Borysenko (someone I follow on Substack) posted this: "For people writing on Substack who still want to share their work on Twitter, there is a workaround... You need to use a URL SHORTENER. I took the URL from my trans martyr article that Twitter was blocking and used URL shortener to make a new URL: http://unwoke.info/trans That URL redirects to the Substack article." She also noted that "Twitter will still remove the embed to the article generated by the URL, so consider LOADING THE PICTURE you used in the header image of your article instead."

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Wholeheartedly agree. Leaving would be a mistake. The discourse on Twitter too often rolls around in the gutter, but it remains a powerful medium. Your comments on Twitter are engaging. Example: your follow up statements to M. Hasan were prompt, readily accessible and excellent. You have a good following there and you should keep it. Have a good vacation.

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How would Matt leaving Twitter be a “mistake”? Dude’s a best-selling author who’s written many excellent books, I think he’ll be fine.

Nobody “needs” fucking Twitter, particularly not Matt. In fact, we’d all be better off without it.

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If it’s either/or, thanks for staying on Substack.

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Only losers use twitter. He should definitely leave - Matt has been a massive hypocrite for continuing to use it all these years, given that it is the source of much of the corruption he writes about.

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Sleazy, Sleazy, Sleazy... Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Or in your case, don't let fantasies of purity piss all over the practicalities. Matt has used Twitter to his advantage, by persuasively responding to critics and defending his position. Thomas Neuburger has some constructive thoughts about it.

https://neuburger.substack.com/p/democrats-vs-democrats-one-of-them

If Matt's had enough of Twitter, so be it. I commend him for stepping into the electronic public square, however flawed, and sharing his views.

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I never used twitter and I've still gotten the news I need.

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Twitter is far more than a place to read the news.

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Correct, it might be the best propaganda distribution system since the TV. Well, more of an evolution.

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Have you finished mopping the bathrooms yet?

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Nah. The last thing I did at work today was explain to a breathless hypochondriac that I will never be instituting vaccine mandates at my company.

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Spoken like the commie you clearly are. Poor thing upset that your commie daddy’s lost their exclusive access to ban viewpoints that hurt your little feelings?

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Try again. Twitter was shit from the beginning - it doesn't matter who owns it. Any form of social media based on ad revenue can't avoid being pathetic.

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OUCH!!! 🥴 🥴 😄

Remind me to never tangle with you Mr. Minor.

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Listen to Archie Bunker intoning to Meathead...

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The 50s are over buddy.

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I do the same with bitly - https://app.bitly.com/ -- seems to be working great as of today: https://twitter.com/BlakeBelt

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Yes, but the problem of censorship remains. That aside they will just ban bitly links.

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Twitter is what it is, but like you say, it's a "happening" place still.

Be careful what ghetto you move too.

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Counterpoint - Twitter sucks, and fuck Twitter.

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I'm grateful to Musk for blowing up the govt censorship. Will not abandon Musk while righting the ship for the benefit of all. The man may have saved our country.

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Musk accidentally did something that was good in a fit of pique.

Let's not go crazy stanning the guy. Abandon him? He's a symptom of corruption, not the cure to it.

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Exactly.

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The wealthiest person in the world “saved our country” by purchasing Twitter? What country do you live in?

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A man who stumbles upon the right thing while otherwise acting like an overgrown toddler does not deserve your allegiance.

People who have principles and conduct themselves with integrity are worthy of loyalty. Musk doesn't fit the bill.

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"We've got one that can see!" - They Live

#OBEY

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Hallucinations run deep, into your life they will creep...

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This is quite the dick flute solo.

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As if Twitter won''t block URL shorteners that point to sites they don't like? It's the principle.

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But does the workaround work? That's the main question. Is Twitter actually weeding out shortened URLs that point to Substack? Seems that the OP believes they aren't.

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Mice shouldn't play at cat and mouse games.

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Mice gotta get their cheese too, so you at least have to try.

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Apparently Matt has enough cheese to go on family vacations, hopefully somewhere nice.

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The OP said it works... so far.

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Until they "fix" it, which they will.

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The OP said she tried it, and it works. .. so far.

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It's working for me as of today: https://twitter.com/BlakeBelt

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Principle? Modi should have been the principle. And I love your work.

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Nah, he should leave. Twitter makes every user dumber, without exception.

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You, M. Sleazy, must have used Twitter extensively at one time.

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I learned a LOT on twitter. Life, and twitter, are what you make them.

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Why should anybody need to “workaround” twitter’s new (are they new?) policies? I thought Elon Musk was bringing free speech back. Anybody can post anything, right? Unless they’re a direct competitor to Twitter? Is that what the deal is?

Is substack even actually a “direct competitor” to Twitter? I don’t think so, but if you know how it is and what the rationale for people needing to “workaround” posting substack links (or any other links, for that matter) is, please enlighten me.

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Musk lied. He does that a lot. It's who he is. He's a bullshitter too.

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Gosh, I’m starting to get the impression that most billionaires are total fucking assholes… Who’da thunk it??? Haha…

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Lord Musko as the "USSR" and hidden links as modern day samizdat.

Works for me.

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Ditto!!!!

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There is something to consider. Elon has A Lot of irons in the fire. It is possible (even likely) he doesn't know.

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I'm sure Matt asked him directly...

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Possibly, but this is a huge week for SpaceX a lot is riding on a safe launch out of Boca Chica for the starship program. If Elon has ever focused on a single aspect of his many endeavors this would be it.

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Maybe Elon's focus should be on his mini Starlinks that are rapidly turning into space trash.

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Uncle Elon is spending the weekend sitting on his front porch whittling whole pineapples. That's about it.

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You’re seriously making excuses for Elon-fucking-Musk? Really? “Uhhh, I dunno, maybe Elon just doesn’t know what’s going on…” I can guaran-fucking-TEE you that Elon Musk knows exactly what’s happening at Twitter right now.

Pathetic. Are you a fellow Billionaire Traveler or something? Like, you’re just here to stick up for the billionaires? I’d maybe buy that excuse if Elon didn’t tweet a thousand times a day…

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"Are you a fellow Billionaire Traveler"

Why yes I am! I only come to places like this because it keeps me In Touch with The Little People.

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Yeah, good one. But you still didn’t explain why you would make excuses for Elon Musk. I’m genuinely curious.

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I could put it another way. I could ask why you think 1. Elon knows anything about this, 2. wants it to happen?

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Russia peasants used to same thing about the Tsar, "If only the Tsar knew, he would do something."

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You seem to know a lot about Russian peasants. Are you the one? 🤔

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I read.

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Or maybe it’s temporary.

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I get Substack alerts in e-mail so it doesn't change much. But it would change non-subscribers getting alerts.

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If the changes to their API and third party apps are an indicator, then no, its not temporary.

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It was an automated reply! See Matt’s T feed

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Not with this kind of ultimatum - only Elon could make this level of decision:

“a decision that apparently will come with a price as far as any future Twitter Files reports are concerned.“

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This appears to be true.

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Check twitter. That's all you have to do, Steve. It's really quite simple. I know it's scary stepping outside the friendly confines of the Racket News threads, but som-a-times you gotta do it...

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Agreed. I had thought it would make sense for Twitter to invest in or simply acquire Substack. Obviously a different trajectory right now, but that could change quickly. Matt leaving twitter is massive development -- and very much will reviewed and assessed by Elon.

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God no. Keep twit away from substack.

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No no no no. We need more distributed networks (and power), not more consolidated.

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Why would you even WANT Twitter-cum-Elon to “acquire” substack? The entire point of substack is to publish journalism free of corporate influence.

The day substack is “acquired” by anybody is the day I cancel my subscription.

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Me too. I was sure that Musk supported Substack. Odd

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I think the cleanest solution would be for Twitter and Substack to negotiate a kickback/royalty system, so that Substack pays Twitter some small fee for every Substack post shared on Twitter.

That way, Substack can leverage Twitter to drive engagement, and Twitter doesn't have to subsidize their competitor.

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Or... or, hear me out, human beings should be able to freely share links as the creators of the world wide web intended.

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Realistically, Musk didn't drop $44 billion to run a charity.

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No, Musk dropped $44 billion to run a tightly controlled propaganda machine. First he came for the algorithms, then he came for substack and all other competitors, then he came for...

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then he came for. . . the pigs.

I feel sorry for his pigs.

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The messaging is too erratic to be propaganda

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Charging for links (which is full on nuts) is a great way to turn a business into a charity.

Preventing or charging for links is so absurd from a business perspective--especially for a social media site that is 99.99% marketing--that it must be some philosophical stand devoid of any business logic.

One thing I noticed about Musk is that he does his deliberation post decision making (releases early and release often)--which is unusual outside of geek circles--but it really seems to work for him. I'm not predicting what Musk's final decision will be, but Musk deliberates post decision. The arguments for or against happen now.

Now not the time to submit.

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Charging for links isn't that different from selling ad space- they pay a price to market their content on the platform.

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Okay. Not a charity. That’s fine. What do you think he dropped 44 billion dollars on, then?

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A business that sells user data and ad space. When the website is free, you're the product.

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A megaphone? Loud and unstoppable.

That said for sure Lord Musk got the "national security" speech and of course the warning about his kids.

That's just how they roll.

Opinion control is central in a managed democracy.

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Create your own site and share links with anyone you deem worthy., that's the beauty of the internet.

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The World Socialist website has seen an astonishing drop in traffic, like 100s of 1000s of visits.

That's down to "Google" doing the work of the deep state and of course the ultragarchs.

If you build they will NOT come.

Field of. . . something.

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That's an actually great idea. It could work, as the great Robert Heinlein once said, "Never appeal to a man's higher nature. He may not have one. Invoking his self-interest will give you more leverage."

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Musk supports Musk. Period.

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Yes. I lose hope for humanity when I see the worship.

His souped up V2s are nice and shiny though!

He's never going to Mars either. Why? To live in a cave and then die there?

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I'm grateful to Elon Musk for so much, but too much is riding on the mood swings of one eccentric billionaire.

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You think that Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink and The Boring Company are results of Musk's mood swing?

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If they are, bring on mood swings!!! 😁

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I think we should be very careful what we are asking for; Neuralink, AI and then there is ... POSTHUMANISM, right?

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Humans are just a transitional form.

He needs to stop torturing pigs though.

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Are you JUST HUMAN? In which transitional phase are you?

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I think you are upto something and we are not far, if that, apart

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I'm not up to, but against; I like humanity and post- means AIity

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No, he stole all those ideas, some of them horrendously bad, like this tunnel trains, from Popular Science articles written many decades ago. Mush has never invented or even originated one single thing. Not even paypal.

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China's tunnel bores are astounding, huge and can bore thru anything. In Seattle a tunnel was delayed for over a year because the pathetic bore got stuck. Musk is a leech.

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"Popular Science articles written many decades ago." -- Is this a... reference that supports your claims?

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Elon is first and foremost a businessman. Sub Notes is a direct competitor to Twitter. So it shouldn't be all that surprising he would have a vested interest in trying to marginalize it. He does have $40B invested ...

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Musk is first and foremost a chaos agent. As a "businessman" he is mostly a useful idiot for various government enterprises, foreign and domestic.

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A very rich and successful chaos agent, so he must be doing something right.

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Oh, a sycophant. Beg your pardon.

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IMHO Elon Musk is first and foremost an engineer looking to make the world a better place.

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Going to Mars won't do a thing for Terra.

If he goes to Mars, which he won't.

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No, it’s not understandable. I was puzzled when he made an offer for Twitter instead of waiting for 3-6 months. I am surprised now. Makes little to no sense.

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Add to his investment to buy Twitter, the 20 million he has spent on it since.

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One can NEVER stop attacking millionaires. They have their own agenda. Elon too.

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Elon is no millionaire. How offensive. ;)

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Elon is probably playing “WAC-A-Mole” over at twitter

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Elon is a big supporter of Elon. It starts and stops there.

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Musk supports himself, for himself.

That's the list.

Twitter is just as bad as it ever was, only now he's the one pulling all the greasy strings. I am still waiting for my account to be restored, but only so I can get banned again as quickly as possible.

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It was an automated reply. See Matt’s Twitter feed

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I am banned from Twitter and so rarely go. I have asked to be reinstated, but nothing happened. I guess that LORD Musk is too busy reading all the adoring comments here to bother.

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