Blip.029: A Note by Any Other Name
Blip.029: A Note by Any Other Name
One less reason to care about the little blue bird.
I have been on Twitter since 2008 and despite the occasional toxicity (well, it used to be occasional), I’ve managed to make some great connections with people who have opened my mind to new work, new ways of thinking, and new ideas. Unfortunately, the environment there under the new owner is declining pretty rapidly.
Earlier in the week, Substack released Notes, which they are calling “a new space where you can publish short-form posts and share ideas with other writers and readers on Substack.” Think of it as TwitterLite—a simple way to connect with other Substack users, hopefully without all of the dumpster fire shenanigans that has seemingly engulfed Twitter.
For my first note, I asked other Substack users to recommend some of their favorite publications. The responses have given me a several new things to check out. I think Notes is a terrific addition to the platform and, along with Chat, gives users a chance to connect not just with Substack writers but also with each other.
If the thought of leaving Twitter has you on a roll and you’re also looking for an Instagram alternative, the photo community 100ASA has finally launched their iOS app in an effort to challenge Instagram as the default social media image sharing platform. One of the things that sets 100ASA apart is the fact that they will offer photographers professional critiques of their work. While the app itself is free, the critiques will cost $9.90 for the Classic and $14.90 for the Advanced. See the site for details.
I checked out 100ASA and after perusing a bit I found that I was a little turned off the by 'points' system, but whatever, that's kind of like 'LIKES' and 'Followers' isn't it? What really bothered me is that it looks and feels fantastically like PHOTO.NET. Which I used a century ago when I first started posting images online. The look there and here (100ASA) is one of super polished Photoshop files that all end up looking alike. It's funny in a strange way but looking through a couple hundred of these pictures on 100ASA made me really appreciate the common-ness of IG. I'm sorry but I really don't care for 100ASA and doubt I'll pursue it any further than I spent with it last night. Thanks for the heads up though.
Finally, I had a surge of inspiration this morning and looked up a photographer on IG who's work I haven't seen for quite a while. Shigayasu Gushima. He must have lost his previous account as this new one has only 23 followers - myself included. Anyway, he's got an amazing eye and every other sensibility that goes along with fine photography. To top it off he photographs a lot of airplanes which I happen to know we are both enjoy.
https://www.instagram.com/shigeyasu_gushima/
Cheers man,
d
I was only suggesting that there is already another platform that is focused on images (well, and other types of media) that is far superior to Instagram. Haven't heard about the one you named.
That said, what everyone seems to forget with social media is that someone has to pay for it. Typically by having ads foisted upon us (targeted or otherwise). Those computers don't run for free. I'm waiting for someone to figure out that we can either pay for membership (because it has value) or something unpleasant will ultimately happen.
I could be wrong, of course.