Because of the richness and variety of content you can find on Substack, many users take to Twitter to repost their favorite Substack finds or even their own work. As of last Thursday, that came to an end. Starting on Apr. 6, anytime a Twitter user wanted to share a Substack link, they were met with an error message saying, “Twitter has unexpectedly restricted access to embedding tweets in Substack posts,” according to reports. Also: Twitter adds an enticing new Twitter Blue feature On that same day, Substack took to its Twitter account to assure users that it was investigating the issue and would update users with any new information. On Friday, the founders released a statement on Twitter expressing their disappointment with the circumstances. Despite users sharing their experiences online with screenshots, Elon Musk took to Twitter on Saturday to deny Twitter’s involvement with Substack Tweets being blocked. Interestingly enough, he did mention Substack’s Twitter clone, Notes, which people speculated is why Twitter blocked Substack in the first place. Substack Notes was introduced on Apr. 5 and has a feed that looks and works essentially the same as Twitter as seen by the promo photo below. Even in Substack’s initial release, the company shared, “Notes may look like familiar social media feeds, the key difference is in what you don’t see.” Unlike Twitter, the feed doesn’t have ads as it runs on a subscription network instead. So now that you have the full run-through of the background, where does the Substack Twitter feud stand today? Also: The best Twitter alternatives The problem seems to have been resolved since now users are able to share Substack links on Twitter without getting an error message or being blocked. Substack celebrated the return to regular operations via Twitter. So does Substack’s olive branch Tweet mean the feud is over? Not at all. If you try to search the term “Substack” on Twitter, you will be brought to results for the term “newsletter” instead. This makes it harder to find or interact with Substack content. It also makes it difficult to find Substack’s Twitter account without searching it on Google. Also: Reality is dead, but at least we’ve got Twitter If you want to search for Substack content, you have to look up “s*bstack” with the asterisk because it is not blocked and users are using that term to weigh in on the situation. People are vocalizing concerns about Twitter’s actions and how they infringe on freedom of speech by censoring people’s opinions. As the feud continues to develop, we will continue to update you.
