Question for something I’m writing: would it be possible for Substack to make substack Notes (its twitter like feature within the Substack app) part of the fediverse?

I’m wondering if this is something that’s technically possible or not and I don’t know enough about how the fediverse operates to know if it would be feasible. #fediverse

  • Eugen Rochko@mastodon.social
    1·
    3 months ago

    @taylorlorenz@mastodon.social I pitched the idea to their CEO right before they launched Notes, but seemingly unsuccessfully. A few days later there was the catastrophic interview with @reckless1280 that ensured I never followed up on it. But technically of course it’s totally feasible.

  • Tim Bray@cosocial.ca
    1·
    3 months ago

    @taylorlorenz@mastodon.social Definitely possible, but would require substantial engineering investment, so not that cheap.

  • 4d3fect@sfba.social
    1·
    3 months ago

    @taylorlorenz@mastodon.social doubt any fedi servers will ever federate with SS, questionable opinions notwithstanding

  • Erik Uden 🥥🌴🍑@mastodon.de
    1·
    3 months ago

    Hello there @taylorlorenz@mastodon.social,
    I’m not too familiar with Substack, but a short look at “Substack Notes” makes it seem like it’s a microblogging feature similar to Mastodon. I think that could easily be part of the Fediverse. As a matter of fact, considering that the “default incoming maximum post character limit” for a Mastodon server is ~100,000, even regular Substack Blogs could be federated without any hurdles or display issues.

    There is a plug-in for WordPress called “ActivityPub” which turns every WordPress blog into an ActivityPub enabled server. If you wish to compare it, it’s like turning the RSS feed feature on or off.

    If your WordPress Blog has comments enabled, ActivityPub replies could be displayed as comments. A Substack Blog could do the same, Substack Notes could basically be a microblogging platform akin to Mastodon.

    I believe it could be federated, it just takes more work. Next to the general implementation of ActivityPub, which has its hurdles, now that anyone from across the interweb could write a comment, would you need an additional spam filter? Should federated posts be displayed on their platform too? What advantages does Substack have for opening up their platform (next to being good for their publishers and users)? So maybe just publish Notes and Blogs to the Fediverse but don’t display any interaction? Some of these questions may be what hinders Substack from doing this. Technically, it would be doable, how easy it is I cannot judge as I don’t know Substack’s code. Taking Ghost or the aforementioned ActivityPub plug-in as an example, their implementation of making blog posts federated was quite simple and didn’t take longer than a few months (the ActivityPub plug-in is open source, its code doesn’t seem too complex, especially considering it’s merely a plug-in and nothing that changes WordPress fundamentally)…

    TL;DR: Yes, Substack Notes could be federated, same for Substack Blogs.

  • Jasper Vinkenvleugel@mastodon.social
    1·
    3 months ago

    @taylorlorenz@mastodon.social probably, but as they’re a nazi-accepting platform, they’d probably get defederated by a whole lot of servers rather fast, so there might not be much of a point.

    • Taylor Lorenz@mastodon.socialOP
      1·
      3 months ago

      @jvnknvlgl@mastodon.social Ghost also accepts nazis, I realize they’re not part of the fediverse but I struggle to find a single publishing tool that doesn’t allow allow reprehensible people to publish.

        • Taylor Lorenz@mastodon.socialOP
          1·
          3 months ago

          @jvnknvlgl@mastodon.social they do! They have less moderation than Substack but it was never a viral headline. I’m not defending it or saying “well this platform is also bad so it’s ok for Substack to do xyz” just saying it’s a broader systemic issue with these email newsletter platforms and publishing tools that don’t want to get into the content moderation business

          • glauber ribeiro@writing.exchange
            1·
            3 months ago

            @taylorlorenz@mastodon.social @jvnknvlgl@mastodon.social Taylor, I agree with you on this one. I’d like the finger-pointing to cool down a little.

          • John O'Nolan@mastodon.xyz
            1·
            3 months ago

            @taylorlorenz@mastodon.social @jvnknvlgl@mastodon.social Taylor, I’ve seen you share this claim across multiple platforms and I’m honestly not sure where it’s coming from.

            As I’ve mentioned each time someone tags me, I’m happy to chat with you directly about how Ghost works and any of these issues if that would be helpful.

            • Taylor Lorenz@mastodon.socialOP
              1·
              3 months ago

              @johnonolan@mastodon.xyz @jvnknvlgl@mastodon.social hi!! Omg I have never seen your replies I am sorry, I would have definitely responded!! I would love to chat, and not trying to hate on ghost btw. As I understand Quilette is on Ghost and you guys don’t do content moderation. But I wasn’t trying to hate on anyone and I just think that a lot of these convos about publishing tools are derailed by what ppl read in headlines. I’m on taylor@usermag.co if u ever have a few min to chat I’d love to connect 🙏

              • Philipp@mastodon.design
                1·
                3 months ago

                @taylorlorenz@mastodon.social @johnonolan@mastodon.xyz I get where you are coming from, however it still makes a difference if Ghost is hosting them, I.e. they are using Ghost Pro, or if they self-host it, which they can as it is open source. Also, even using Ghost Pro you are not in a closed network like Substack. Every Ghost publication is more like a single instance, so content moderation is harder. Substack still is a hellhole, especially after that Decoder interview it is clear what kind of hellhole it is.