If you’re reading Substack articles, you’ve likely heard that Matt Taibbi was tweeting that Twitter was blocking Substack links. It’s not that the links weren’t showing up, but that supposedly they couldn’t be liked or retweeted. I have a pinned post on my Twitter account leading to my substack page and I viewed it from another browser, not signed in, and it was visible. I am unsure if it was “likable” or not.
I think "block" is a fair word. I tweeted some Substack links and tested them myself, both logged in and not, and every time they led to a page with a warning that the link was "unsafe." True, you can override your own browser's safety settings (if you're in charge of them, as most people are on their personal computers but are not on work computers) but it differed in no way that I noticed from the warning to avoid actually unsafe pages, pages that steal data, etc. I think Musk's move was intended to be deceitful, whether it met the dictionary definition of "lying" or not.
I have edited the substack due to an interesting development. When you search for "substack" on Twitter, the search term it actually looks for is "newsletter." That seems so personal. Between that and the idea that an article page would be "unsafe" (meaning you could get hacked from it), it looks like Elon was definitely "striking back" through intentionally omitting information.
I suppose I am very used to bypassing the "unsafe link" pages because I used to follow links from Facebook to sites that were anti-vax before 2020. There is a "Ignore this warning and continue" option at the bottom of those "unsafe link" pages. I did just use Twitter to visit someone's substack a few minutes ago.
I don't know how to override my browser's safety settings to not have those pages come up, but there is usually a link to ignore the warnings, but they sure make those links small and hard to find!
I see what you mean, if someone is not used to that, then they may have no way of understanding how to actually visit the website in question. Then I can see how Matt would consider it "blocking" links.
I do think Elon and Matt have their own personal reasons for why they're viewing the situation in which they're viewing it.
I checked your Twitter and found nothing wrong with your substack link. I searched for "substack" and as you'd expect it was the top result. I'm not seeing any bias on Twitter against Substack.
1) I see your "like" on my pinned post. I've noticed that older tweets mentioning Substack seem to be unaffected and my pinned post was a very old tweet. But newer posts are under this "shadow-banning" effect. Try interacting with tweet (like, comment, retweet) https://twitter.com/DoniTheDon_/status/1644762394013364225
I'm having issues with newer tweets such as those. It looks like all you can do is quote tweet it, and if you click the link Twitter tells you the link goes to an "unsafe" website.
2) I was given a way to change my tweets to a link that still says substack but also still allows retweets, comments, and likes. Here it is from Francis (https://substack.com/profile/13379579-francis-turner):
"How to evade twitter's substack banning use this clever little redirector .... replace any open[.]substack[.]com/pub/$name/p/$post link with a substack[.]aho[.]st/pub/$name/p/$post link instead"
So I'm now using these links which work (except don't give a good picture thumbnail when sharing)
I tested that tweet of Doni's when I sent it to you. I was unable to do all those things. I see your comment to me, and I checked out her tweet. I saw your like, and tried to retweet it and was successful. I tried clicking on the link and it didn't say it was "unsafe." I think Elon fixed it. Now this is a moot point, lol.
I think "block" is a fair word. I tweeted some Substack links and tested them myself, both logged in and not, and every time they led to a page with a warning that the link was "unsafe." True, you can override your own browser's safety settings (if you're in charge of them, as most people are on their personal computers but are not on work computers) but it differed in no way that I noticed from the warning to avoid actually unsafe pages, pages that steal data, etc. I think Musk's move was intended to be deceitful, whether it met the dictionary definition of "lying" or not.
I have edited the substack due to an interesting development. When you search for "substack" on Twitter, the search term it actually looks for is "newsletter." That seems so personal. Between that and the idea that an article page would be "unsafe" (meaning you could get hacked from it), it looks like Elon was definitely "striking back" through intentionally omitting information.
I suppose I am very used to bypassing the "unsafe link" pages because I used to follow links from Facebook to sites that were anti-vax before 2020. There is a "Ignore this warning and continue" option at the bottom of those "unsafe link" pages. I did just use Twitter to visit someone's substack a few minutes ago.
I don't know how to override my browser's safety settings to not have those pages come up, but there is usually a link to ignore the warnings, but they sure make those links small and hard to find!
I see what you mean, if someone is not used to that, then they may have no way of understanding how to actually visit the website in question. Then I can see how Matt would consider it "blocking" links.
I do think Elon and Matt have their own personal reasons for why they're viewing the situation in which they're viewing it.
Yes I was banned from Twitter and that’s one of the reasons I set up on here. Although i am
against ‘pay to play’ on any platform, to pay to use it (like a blue tick) would be insane if then one’s substack links were shadow banned.
I checked your Twitter and found nothing wrong with your substack link. I searched for "substack" and as you'd expect it was the top result. I'm not seeing any bias on Twitter against Substack.
1) I see your "like" on my pinned post. I've noticed that older tweets mentioning Substack seem to be unaffected and my pinned post was a very old tweet. But newer posts are under this "shadow-banning" effect. Try interacting with tweet (like, comment, retweet) https://twitter.com/DoniTheDon_/status/1644762394013364225
I'm having issues with newer tweets such as those. It looks like all you can do is quote tweet it, and if you click the link Twitter tells you the link goes to an "unsafe" website.
2) I was given a way to change my tweets to a link that still says substack but also still allows retweets, comments, and likes. Here it is from Francis (https://substack.com/profile/13379579-francis-turner):
"How to evade twitter's substack banning use this clever little redirector .... replace any open[.]substack[.]com/pub/$name/p/$post link with a substack[.]aho[.]st/pub/$name/p/$post link instead"
So I'm now using these links which work (except don't give a good picture thumbnail when sharing)
https://substack.aho.st/pub/dramaofitall/p/twitter-shadow-bans-substack-links
https://substack.aho.st/pub/dramaofitall/p/twitter-shadow-bans-substack-links?utm_source=%2Finbox&utm_medium=reader2
Hmm... wouldn't surprise me. Shadow banning is one of those evil manipulations that has been done by social media platforms.
I tested that tweet of Doni's when I sent it to you. I was unable to do all those things. I see your comment to me, and I checked out her tweet. I saw your like, and tried to retweet it and was successful. I tried clicking on the link and it didn't say it was "unsafe." I think Elon fixed it. Now this is a moot point, lol.