Substack has Nazis, because of course it does.
asserted
it → have → course
Substack is on the internet, Nazis are on the internet, and if Substack doesn’t want Nazis it has to take affirmative steps to get rid of them.
asserted
it → want → them
Flies don’t stop coming into the house because you want them to; they stop because you get off the couch and close the screen door.
asserted
you → stop → door
Any social media or blogging platform faces this.
asserted
media → face → this
Substack may attract more Nazis than average because Substack has a “okay you don’t agree with me now but what if I wrote another 8,000 words about it” vibe.
uncertain
I → attract → vibe
2023 Nazis have a very “I didn’t have this insight until I read The Fountainhead for the sixth time, let me elaborate” thing going.
asserted
thing → have → time
Say what you want about the 1939 Nazis, but at least they were occasionally terse.
asserted
they → say → Nazis
Substack having Nazis1 is currently the subject of debate.
asserted
having → have → debate
The Atlantic ran a piece about Substack’s “Nazi Problem” and recently a group of Substack writers wrote a group letter about it, asking Substack to get rid of the Nazis.
asserted
group → run → Nazis
They point out, correctly, that Substack authors have abandoned the platform before over its moderation choices and might again.
uncertain
authors → point → choices
On the other side, a bunch of Substack users offered a group letter saying they don’t want Substack to made content choices; they like a system where each writer and reader makes their own moderation choices.
asserted
writer → offer → choices
Substack’s co-founder Hamish McKenzie has now responded with a post confirming that it’s not going to moderate Nazis.
asserted
it → respond → Nazis
So that seems to resolve that.
asserted
that → seem → that
As a writer and reader, I decide what’s important to me when I choose a site.
asserted
I → decide → site
Sometimes it’s about content I want to consume or avoid and fellow-travelers whose society I crave or despise.
asserted
I → ’ → society
But sometimes it’s an ethos I want to endorse, or be seen as endorsing.
asserted
I → ’ → ?
Do I want to go on Twitter to signify that I am not a snowflake and that I am open to discussions of how the Jews created polio?
asserted
Jews → want → polio
Do I want to go on Mastodon to signify that I believe human perfection can be achieved through scolding?
asserted
perfection → want → scolding
Do I want to go on LinkedIn and talk exclusively to people who hope to monetize my existence in their quest to be Deputy Assistant Regional Manager?
asserted
who → want → quest
Do I really only care if the app works on an iPad?
asserted
app → care → iPad
It’s up to me and my array of values.
asserted
It → ’ → values
Site managers make choices too.
asserted
managers → make → choices
What ethos do we want to signal, and what crowd will that attract, and how much money can we make from them?
asserted
we → want → them
If we moderate content, will it turn into an expensive, thankless, all-consuming task?
asserted
it → moderate → task
Will moderating some people (like Nazis) result in constant demands that we moderate a huge array of things that make people angry (like, say, posts that are either too supportive or not supportive enough of Palestinians)?
asserted
that → moderate → Palestinians
Will it attract more people than it alienates?
asserted
it → attract → people
If we don’t moderate will the place turn into a notorious sewer?
asserted
place → moderate → sewer
What’s our moderation brand?
asserted
brand → ’ → ?
That’s what Substack is up to: branding.
asserted
Substack → ’ → what
They’re betting they attract more people than they repel with the “we don’t believe in Big Tech choosing what you can write or read” brand.
asserted
you → bet → brand
They’re betting that the “we are the intellectual and moral superiors to the woke left” brand is profitable — and it is.
asserted
it → bet → left
They calculate that getting involved in constant disputes over what content is acceptable on their site would be a big waste of time and money and focus.
asserted
content → calculate → time
Maybe they’re thinking that the Overton Window has shifted such that a substantial portion of mainstream American thought is kind of Nazi these days and that they can’t afford to lose that market.
asserted
they → think → market
As a matter of marketing, they’re not.
asserted
they → ’re → marketing
The “we’re the noble defenders of civilization, upholding free thought from the onslaught of the woke hordes” sells these days.
asserted
’re → ’re → hordes
It sells even when free thought is actually under more profound assault from cynical and powerful and absolutely not woke forces.
asserted
thought → sell → forces
It sells even though — as I will get to in a minute — there’s a difference between tolerance and platforming.
asserted
I → sell → tolerance
They’re also not wrong to the extent they think that critics will never be satisfied and that getting into the business of moderating content is expensive and never-ending.
asserted
getting → ’re → content
It’s notable that the critics of Substack’s “Nazi problem” do not offer a specific definition of what content they’d moderate.
asserted
they → ’ → content
It’s a know-it-if-you-see-it type of thing.
asserted
you → ’ → thing
…and 102 more, not listed.
The Aporia
