Platform reality

We learned this about plat­forms a long time ago: fol­lowing the old news­paper schematic, they aren’t the printing presses, but rather the assign­ment editors.

Back in May, Ted Gioia wrote about the wave of cor­po­ra­tions and celebrities joining Sub­stack. Long­time internet readers will note the clear echo of 2000s blog tri­umphalism and/or 2010s Twitter energy, which is to say: enjoy it while it lasts.

I think it’s a notable that Ted’s post, though it’s titled Sub­stack Has Changed in the Last 30 Days, ... See more

Expect enclosure; expect a few big winners; expect advertising, with all the attention-hacking that will demand. Expect, also, that writers will con­tinue to mold their work to fit Sub­stack’s par­tic­ular ecology, rather than “merely” use the tools to pursue their inde­pen­dent visions and ambitions. We learned this about plat­forms a long time ag... See more