When Twitter was introduced in India it was mostly considered a network for journalists. This was before the Modi age, so politicians and mainly everyone considered social media a waste of time.
Plus for most, the platform had the challenge of expressing in 140 characters.
Twitter solved the problem by getting Bollywood celebrities on the network. It worked, celebs loved more free PR and brand endorsements, and common people started joining the network just to expect a reply back.
Today Substack has a similar issue or may be going through the same journey. Last week it introduced Notes - a network of writers and readers. The current regime of Twitter under the wings of Elon Musk obviously was not happy.
It is like any other network with a feed that allows you to post thoughts along with media support.
One could think why it is such a big deal but the highly influential writers who once dominated Twitter have been using Substack and making money. But till now it was just via newsletters and now one more way to interact with readers and also get new audiences.
This is the Notes feed which shows thoughts from the entire community of Substack - it is so like Twitter 🙂
Off late the feature is being used mainly by the big writers who are sharing what they write, do and etc.
Who is reading them? Mainly the middle-level writers so that they get a chance to have a conversation with the big guys. ( P.S. I am not judging anyone by classifying writers but mainly for explanation purposes)
The so-called reader is either not aware or too early to jump on since they already get the newsletter. Substack is asking writers to message their readers so that they come, follow and start interacting.
However, the big question is why would a reader join another network when the larger purpose is to read his/her thoughts which is happening via the newsletter.
More than the writers, Substack needs it. It has been introduced to show investors that the network is not just about newsletters. It is also a social network, people are spending time on the platform rather than just reading the newsletters in their inboxes.
It is one of the ideas from Substack at a time when it is witnessing “negative revenue.”
It isn’t for an irregular blogger like me but this could be a great idea for writers who are making a living from the network or planning to. For instance, let’s say Casey Newton is interviewing someone in New York for his next free newsletter and he does a BTS for his paid subscribers on Notes.
Notes might have created some tensions for Twitter but this is the honeymoon period for Substack. Wait till the politics, bots, and hate start injecting into the feed and comments section.
Substack is now a network for writers but it will also invite challenges like Twitter which it is still trying to get rid of.
However, I won’t be forcing my readers to join my Notes. I share enough via my weekend musings 🙂
Talking about social networks which have gone bonkers with AI frenzy has some interesting news from Meta. According to Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth, the organisation is investing in generative AI and the commercialization of the technology will happen soon.
He believes that Meta's artificial intelligence can improve an ad's effectiveness partly by telling the advertiser what tools to use in making it. He said that instead of a company using a single image in an advertising campaign, it can "ask the AI, 'Make images for my company that works for different audiences.' And it can save a lot of time and money."
At the moment the Ad Manager has a certain level of similar capabilities. Such as the ad manager can make the images effective by applying filters, deciding on which images to be shown to a given audience, and suggestions on audiences.
However, writing ad copies will be a natural progression but will I use what the AI says?
I have played with the present capabilities and avoided large control of Meta on creatives and audiences. The suggestions are quite basic. But this could be a good move for a Nonprofit organisation that has less budget but still want to explore digital fundraising via Meta. Google is also working on similar lines and this will be a feature provided by most of the players in the market.
In another Meta lab, scientists are also figuring out how to read your mind. With this technology, we will understand what animals are communicating with each other. Okay, are the animals even interested or will it be useful for Meta in showing relevant ads? Maybe?
In an interesting and deep conversation Indian yogi and spiritual guide Sri M shares that his guru Maheshwarnath Babaji would always know beforehand his state of mind. We have come a long way with AI finally finding ways to decode our thought process even before it has taken place.
On that thought, I wish you a lovely weekend 😀