I hate this big shift to email newsletters...the Web is supposed to be the open platform for online publishing. Let's be honest, most of us don't read all the newsletters we're subscribed to...Gmail put that "Forums" tab as far away from the "Primary" tab for a reason. The email inbox is a terrible publishing platform, but all the web publishers are being pushed to it because of AI. We have to find a way to bring the Web back as the #1 online publishing platform.
https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff/114937461341656266
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And yes I know I publish Cybercultural in email form via Buttondown, but I regard the website (Cybercultural.com) as the primary form factor. I like what Ghost is trying to do currently, to make the fediverse (aka open social web) a first-class citizen alongside email. So that is something to hold out hope for.
@rscottjones I don't think it's "normal" for internet platforms to exert their power and gatekeep their users' content; which is why I personally choose to use Mastodon and similar platforms that give power to the users (which I regard as normal). #YMMV
@rscottjones True, although by distribution I was mostly referring to the rapid drop in click-throughs from Google search (due to AI) and the throttling behavior of social media algorithms (X, Threads, LinkedIn, Facebook). In other words, the distribution and discovery ecosystem I’ve built my career on has basically disappeared. So yes, there are more and better tools to publish to the web, but it’s much harder now to build an audience or community.
@rscottjones Good points. I think my main objection is that the Web is a much more powerful platform than email (multimedia, interactive features, etc), so it should always be a more important format than an email newsletter. But the web has a real revenue and distribution problem right now, so email is taking priority.