Twitter has owned the internet’s town square for over a decade. News always breaks there first. Companies announce launches. Movements begin and memes are born. Every major tech company maintains a presence and startups spend a ton of cash securing the best handles for their brands.
This doesn’t really happen anywhere else.
Handles on Twitter are so valuable now that there’s even a new marketplace for them.
You might hate the toxicity. You might despise the owner. You might be exhausted by misinformation, as am I. But if you work in tech or media, you’re probably still there, even if you’re not an active contributor.
Twitter is, and will always be, the internet town square.
When Google ships a new model, they announce it on Twitter. When a founder wants feedback, they post on Twitter. When journalists need to know what people are talking about, they check Twitter. The platform has become infrastructure.
But the town square is loud. Everyone can see what’s happening. Information moves fast. You bump into people you weren’t expecting. Sometimes you witness something important. Sometimes you just get yelled at.
You can’t think deeply in the town square. Everything you say is a performance. The format pushes you toward quick takes. And there’s this anxiety about who’s watching.
Substack is different, and it should focus on staying that way.
Substack is the coffee shop.
People are more vulnerable. They share personal struggles. Half-finished ideas. They’re less afraid and more honest. The long-form format filters for readers who’ll invest time. However, Substack has drifted away from this core value prop.
Twitter and Substack solve opposite problems. Twitter: “I need to know what’s happening right now.” Substack: “I need to think through something that matters.” Threading out a long essay on Twitter feels awkward. You’re still performing. Using Substack for breaking news feels weird with this half-baked trending feature.
I wish Substack would stop doing this.
A city needs both town squares and coffee shops. So does the internet.
The space shapes the thinking. Town squares produce quick reactions optimized for spreading. Coffee shops produce reflection, complexity, vulnerability.
Zuckerberg created Threads and tried to be Twitter with better moderation. LinkedIn tried to be professional Twitter with longer posts. Both struggled because they wanted town square reach with coffee shop depth. You can’t have both. The town square works because it’s open and chaotic.
The coffee shop works because it’s intimate and curated.
Online discourse will never consolidate into one platform.
Substack should take note.
— Daniel