Beloved Followship of the ⭕️,
You may or may not know that Substack recently rolled out its newest feature, called Notes. It basically functions exactly like Twitter, but (so far) without all the usual stuff that has made everyone sick of Twitter. It is a great way to engage with one’s subscribers, and to discover new Substacks to follow. I want to invite you to join me there. It’s a refreshingly humane space on the internet, where you will see writers supporting one another, and where you might discover something or someone new! For example, I learned yesterday, via Austin Kleon’s Notes, that the artist Ed Emberley’s incredible 17th century home in Massachusetts is up for sale (I was and am a huge fan of Emberley’s drawing books for children). Meanwhile, this is an example of what you might read from me there:
Notes brought Austin’s Substack to my attention, and I immediately subscribed, because it is terrific. That’s kind of how Notes is supposed to work, which is so different from the bang-your-head-against-a-wall effect of most social media usage. I hope it stays that way, and I am still learning how to engage with it. But I’m sending this invitation to you, because the more of you dear subscribers there are who engage with it, the likelier it is to be awesome. Anyway, come check it out:
[What follows is from Substack, not me, but it’s good and helpful:]
How to join
Head to substack.com/notes or find the “Notes” tab in the Substack app. As a subscriber to The DETOURIST, you’ll automatically see my notes. Feel free to like, reply, or share them around!
You can also share notes of your own. I hope this becomes a space where every reader of The DETOURIST can share thoughts, ideas, and interesting quotes from the things we're reading on Substack and beyond.
Why Substack Notes
Fellow writers and readers are spending time in Notes for a variety of reasons.
Ted Gioia sees Notes as a forum for dialogue.
The idea behind Notes is simple. Millions of people now participate in Substack as writers and readers—but much of this is built on long articles and essays. We now have a forum for dialoguing and sharing shorter posts.
Chris Ryan is drawn to Substack as an alternative for legacy social media.
One of my main reasons for joining Substack was to wean myself off exploitative social media platforms. I’m hoping this is going to help move us along on that journey!
Sherman Alexie wants to create a kind and creative new space in Notes.
I’m going to focus on being positive, with my own thoughts and photos and by linking to songs, stories, poems from around the web and from other Substacks.
If you encounter any issues, you can always refer to the Notes FAQ for assistance. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Hi. I'm paying attention.