The hottest Platforms Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top News Topics

Training large language models on my loved ones' data

Reboot • 26 implied HN points • 11 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Expert data labelers produce the high-quality reasoning traces that power recent LLM advances, yet they work as precarious gig labor with opaque rules, unstable pay, and no real career path.
  2. AI companies capture huge value from this labor and then displace or sideline those workers as models learn to generate synthetic data, causing layoffs and downward pressure on wages.
  3. There are simple, practical protections that could help: portable credentials, transparency about how data is used, the ability for workers to communicate and appeal, and explicit credit or recognition for their contributions.

Recent Appearances

The J. Burden Show • 279 implied HN points • 25 Jan 24
🎙 Podcasts Platforms
  1. The user has appeared on several podcasts recently discussing topics like Christianity, conservatism, and current events on the Southern Border.
  2. The appearance span across different platforms including podcasts and Youtube, showing a diverse range of content and discussions.
  3. The user's work is reader-supported, encouraging subscriptions to receive new posts and support their efforts.

Japan Gets Options. China Gets the Wall.

Pekingnology • 49 implied HN points • 19 Dec 25
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Japan forced Apple to open iOS to alternative app stores, alternative payments, and external purchase links, but Apple implements these changes with safety guardrails and says it won’t roll them out everywhere.
  2. China still faces Apple's strict App Store controls and high commissions, and rising antitrust suits and consumer complaints challenge that status quo while bespoke deals like Tencent’s 15% cut highlight uneven flexibility.
  3. Global enforcement and court rulings are shifting the center of gravity toward more choice without abandoning security, and China could push for simpler steps like allowing steering and regulated alternative payments rather than full distribution changes.

A Tale Of Two Ecosystems: On Bandcamp, Spotify And The Wide-Open Future

Dada Drummer Almanach • 57 implied HN points • 05 Dec 25
🎶 Music Platforms
  1. Bandcamp and Spotify represent two very different music ecosystems: Bandcamp centers albums, artist-controlled pricing, open access and user privacy, while Spotify emphasizes playlists, ad/data-driven revenue and opaque royalty formulas.
  2. Digital downloads are now a tiny part of recorded music revenue (about 2% in 2024), so Bandcamp expanded into merch and physical sales because streaming dominates the market.
  3. Changes in Bandcamp’s ownership and layoffs hurt its reputation, and new entrants like the cooperative Subvert are trying to offer an alternative download-focused distribution in a market that still lacks strong competition.

This is Going To Be... Not on Substack

ceonyc • 471 implied HN points • 27 Jun 23
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Moving away from centralized platforms like Medium and Substack can offer more control over audience engagement and branding.
  2. Maintaining a direct relationship with your audience on your own site that you control can be beneficial in the long run.
  3. Audience growth and engagement may require more effort when transitioning between platforms, but the control and personal touch can be worth it.
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The Podcast.

News Items • 235 implied HN points • 28 Jan 24
🎙 Podcasts Platforms
  1. Episode #7 of Night Owls podcast features John Ellis and Joe Klein discussing various topics like the New Hampshire primary, Nikki Haley, cyber-hacking of elections, deep fake audio/video, and Mark Zuckerberg.
  2. The podcast can be found on various platforms like Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and iHeart.
  3. Upcoming episodes of the podcast will feature guests like Rita Singh and Steve Coll, delving into voice profiling and the relationship between the United States and Saddam Hussein.

Update: I've moved from Substack to beehiiv

Kyle Poyar’s Growth Unhinged • 23 implied HN points • 12 Jan 26
đź’Ľ Business Platforms
  1. The newsletter has moved from Substack to beehiiv, and all past and future issues are now hosted on the new site.
  2. Subscribers who signed up on or before December 31, 2025 were automatically migrated, and the newsletter URL did not change.
  3. The Substack archives will remain available for now but won’t get new posts, and you should reach out via email or LinkedIn if you run into any issues.

Unity changes: why PC & console devs feel like the 'ugly duckling'

The GameDiscoverCo newsletter • 393 implied HN points • 13 Sep 23
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Unity announced changes to its game engine license pricing model based on 'number of installs of your game'.
  2. Unity's engine business for PC/consoles is less important financially compared to its mobile ads/mediation division.
  3. The new pricing model by Unity has caused dissatisfaction among developers, especially PC and console developers.

Backstage’s journey from spreadsheets to global IDP standard | Spotify’s Tyson Singer

Dev Interrupted • 14 implied HN points • 20 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Backstage evolved from spreadsheets into a company-wide developer portal (Portal) that uses golden paths and an AI Knowledge Assistant to scale support and cut internal tickets nearly in half.
  2. New agentic AI tools like Cowork, Gas Town, and Loom are moving AI from giving advice to doing work autonomously, which creates a need for complex orchestration and tiny task decomposition.
  3. The engineer role is shifting from solo coder to conductor of digital workers, so raw output metrics (like diffs per developer) can mislead and teams should focus on judgment, system design, and sustainable processes.

Twitter’s King Lear

quite useless • 353 implied HN points • 08 Apr 23
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Substack announced a new feature called Notes, prompting a negative response from Twitter.
  2. Twitter disabled embedding, likes, and retweets of Substack links, leading to backlash from Substack writers.
  3. The conflict between Substack and Twitter highlights the importance of understanding the nature of platforms and not alienating loyal users.

This Week in Marketing: Instagram’s Reality-Check vs. Elon Musk’s Pornography Machine

The Social Juice • 22 implied HN points • 04 Jan 26
đź’Ľ Business Platforms
  1. AI is everywhere and a lot of it is low-quality or misleading, often called “AI slop.” Platforms are talking about tagging or fingerprinting real media because trust in generative models is falling.
  2. Elon Musk’s Grok flooded X with sexualized images, exposing serious safety failures and prompting regulatory pressure. Industry leaders are warning AI agents are becoming a real problem that needs fixing.
  3. Social platforms and ad tech are shifting fast—new features, acquisitions, and ad-product changes are forcing marketers to rethink collaborations and measurement. With regulators paying closer attention, trust and compliance are now central to marketing strategy.

Leaving Substack

Mostly Python • 1257 implied HN points • 29 Feb 24
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. The author is moving their newsletter from Substack to Ghost as they feel Ghost is a better fit due to its focus on writing and its open-source foundation.
  2. It's important to consider the platform's business model when deciding on a service, as sustainable revenue streams can help avoid unwanted platform changes and dark patterns.
  3. Being able to export your data easily and understanding the platform's funding history are crucial factors to consider when choosing a service for the long term.

The loop that shrank

Brave New Teams • 8 implied HN points • 31 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Saying “human in the loop” is mostly a temporary grace period, not a permanent safeguard. As AI gets more reliable, humans will move from constant oversight to occasional checks or mere compliance roles.
  2. AI will automate routine white‑collar tasks and shrink entry‑level drudgery, pushing jobs toward exception‑handling and orchestration and reducing bargaining power for many workers. That shift will tend to concentrate economic gains with owners of data, compute, platforms, and distribution.
  3. Use the transition deliberately: build auditable, safe systems and clarify liability while policing platform chokepoints, and broaden who owns automation gains through stronger social insurance, profit‑sharing, pensions, or sovereign wealth mechanisms.

Building a Simple Live Streaming Platform[System Design Sundays]

Technology Made Simple • 119 implied HN points • 18 Mar 24
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. When designing a live streaming platform like Twitch, key steps include ingestion, transcoding, packaging, CDN utilization, and database management.
  2. Challenges like low latency, scalability, and reliability must be addressed for the success of a live streaming platform.
  3. To enhance a streaming service further, consider advanced technologies like adaptive bitrate algorithms, advanced caching, and community features.

Who's top of Steam Next Fest for June 2023?

The GameDiscoverCo newsletter • 314 implied HN points • 26 Jun 23
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Steam's June Next Fest featured around 1,000 PC game demos with various top performers in different categories.
  2. Important points were highlighted in the ongoing FTC vs. Microsoft case, including PlayStation's role in Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda and Activision's revenue split tactics.
  3. Recent game platform and discovery news include Meta's VR subscription service, Nike's collaboration with Fortnite, and insights on Chinese game approvals.

10 Charts That Explain the AI Era

Perspectives • 7 implied HN points • 30 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. AI adoption has happened extremely quickly, with consumers embracing tools like ChatGPT far faster than past technologies, and we’re still in the early stages of broader impact.
  2. Training and running large AI models is very expensive and investment and infrastructure are concentrated in a few firms, so the ecosystem is still in a heavy build/investment phase rather than a mature, profitable one.
  3. Benefits are uneven: many corporate pilots fail to reach production, executives tend to gain more productivity than frontline workers, women use AI less, and entry-level jobs are being disrupted, so careful redesign and policy are needed to avoid widening gaps.

The Youtube Edition

Why is this interesting? • 1628 implied HN points • 25 May 23
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. The evolution of platforms can be a cycle: starting with user focus, then prioritizing business interests, and finally turning inward for maximum value.
  2. YouTube stands out as a platform that has maintained quality over the years despite criticism.
  3. YouTube offers a diverse range of content that appeals to various interests and preferences, making it a beloved platform for many users.

The Retweat: Introduction to the Longest Farewell

The Chancery Daily • 499 implied HN points • 15 May 23
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Leaving Twitter can be challenging due to personal, practical, and ideological reasons.
  2. Building a following on Twitter brought professional and personal growth, but also complexities and challenges to manage.
  3. Considering other platforms like Bluesky or the Fediverse, but recognizing the need to step back from short-form social media for mental health and productivity.

This Week in Marketing: Pinterest Predicts, AI-Powered Dating, Reels Algorithm, and Disney Slop

The Social Juice • 24 implied HN points • 14 Dec 25
đź’Ľ Business Platforms
  1. AI is accelerating across platforms and industries, powering new models, agentic tools, and content features that are reshaping how content, ads, and products are made and delivered.
  2. Platforms are putting more control in users' hands and experimenting with prompt-focused algorithms, letting people steer what shows up in Reels, playlists, and shared feeds.
  3. The AI surge is raising big legal, safety, and quality problems — from copyright fights and low-quality AI 'slop' to harmful deepfakes and increasing regulator scrutiny, putting creators and platforms under pressure.

đź“ž The Magic Hotline: Talk to Substack Sam!

The Cosmopolitan Globalist • 3 implied HN points • 14 Feb 26
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. A live webinar with Substack engineer Sam Sudar is scheduled for Monday, February 16 at 11:30 AM Pacific, giving readers a chance to ask about the platform directly.
  2. You can ask about features, bugs, billing, podcasting, notifications, and design issues, and if you can’t join live you can leave questions in the comments for the host to ask.
  3. The Zoom link and some event access are behind the paywall, and subscribing also gives access to archives, podcasts, classes, group chats, and an upcoming symposium tomorrow at 4:30 PM Paris time.

Unintended Consequences

Fish Food for Thought • 20 implied HN points • 17 Dec 25
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Unintended consequences are inevitable; well-meaning fixes can create worse problems or surprising new opportunities, so assume surprises will happen.
  2. Chasing metrics without context makes products drift from their purpose, because optimizing numbers can reward harmful or shallow behaviors; always measure real human outcomes and watch for distortions.
  3. Treat every launch as the start of learning: test for misuse, listen to real users, and build a culture that adapts quickly instead of blaming mistakes.

Monopoly Profits, AI Arms Races, & the Mirage of Silicon Valley Platform-Oligopoly Disruption

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 130 implied HN points • 14 Jun 25
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Users might benefit greatly from advanced AI technology if tools like chatbots serve them well. It's all about whether these tools work for us or the other way around.
  2. Tech giants like Google and Microsoft are facing challenges as AI rapidly evolves. Their old methods of operation may not keep up with new AI advancements.
  3. Even though AI is changing the tech landscape, it might not lead to the rise of new dominant companies. The existing major players could still remain strong despite the disruption.

Why It's Smart to Write on Medium in 2023

Kristina God's Online Writing Club • 419 implied HN points • 10 Feb 23
đź’Ľ Business Platforms
  1. Writing on Medium can help you get exposure and build an audience, even if the pay isn't great. It's a good place to test your writing and try different topics.
  2. You get paid based on how much time readers spend on your stories, which means engagement is key for earnings. Even if the money is small, you can get paid quickly.
  3. Medium offers you creative freedom and flexibility to write on your own schedule. You can connect with others and even grow your reputation as a writer.

Calm down, it’s Only Monday

Sector 6 | The Newsletter of AIM • 79 implied HN points • 04 Mar 24
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. The Indian government's new AI advisory has sparked mixed reactions in the AI community. Some people feel it's not a good decision.
  2. IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar clarified that the advisory is meant for large platforms only. Startups will not be affected by these new regulations.
  3. There is concern about how this advisory may impact innovation and the growth of AI in India, especially among startups.

What makes a security product "good"?

Frankly Speaking • 305 implied HN points • 23 Oct 24
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. A good security product isn't about having a lot of features. It's more important that it provides real value and helps people work efficiently.
  2. Security tools should help fill gaps in a team's capabilities rather than just adding more complexity. Sometimes a 'good enough' solution is better than a perfect one.
  3. The focus should shift from just ranking products to understanding what really helps customers. A good product makes life easier and solves the right problems.

Platform Economics- Why Meta made a Profit and Uber did not [Finance Fridays]

Technology Made Simple • 159 implied HN points • 22 Jul 23
đź’° Finance Platforms
  1. Platform economics often prioritize scale over short-term profitability, relying on network effects to eventually generate revenue.
  2. Successful platforms like Facebook and YouTube maintained a competitive edge through extensive user profiles and built-in loyalty, unlike Uber.
  3. Uber's failure was attributed to factors like the ease of replicating its service, lack of customer loyalty, and the unrealistic expectations for profitability in the on-demand service industry.

There Are Now High-Quality Video Versions Of My Articles For People Who Prefer Video Format

Caitlin’s Newsletter • 544 implied HN points • 15 Mar 24
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Caitlin Johnstone now offers high-quality video versions of her articles for those who prefer video format.
  2. The videos feature subtitles, a reading of the articles by her husband Tim, relevant screenshots, and occasional light-hearted moments.
  3. Caitlin Johnstone also provides audio versions of her articles on platforms like Soundcloud, Spotify, and other major podcast platforms.

The Not-so-Lazy Holiday Reading List

Platforms, AI, and the Economics of BigTech • 11 implied HN points • 28 Dec 25
đź’Ľ Business Platforms
  1. In a world where execution is cheap, restraint and reflection are advantages — do less of the wrong work and spend time deciding what really matters.
  2. Don’t just dig faster; make maps that show where to dig — focus on clarity, limits, and redesigning workflows rather than only improving speed.
  3. AI reshapes systems so answers get cheap; the lasting value comes from asking better questions, owning decision rights and governance, and re‑architecting around new units of value.

Video Notes, improved search, Spotify integration, and more

Substack • 451 implied HN points • 18 Apr 24
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Substack has added new features like posting videos directly in Notes, making it easier for creators to share content.
  2. They've improved the search function on the platform, allowing users to find posts faster and more easily.
  3. Podcasters can now distribute their episodes to Spotify, helping them reach a wider audience and potentially make more money.

The Unbundling of Twitter

ceonyc • 137 implied HN points • 20 Mar 23
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Consider the shift towards posting on platforms that are more specialized for specific topics or verticals.
  2. Analyzing the engagement on different social media platforms can provide insights on audience relevance and interaction.
  3. Reflect on how the trend of unbundling services, like seen with Craigslist, could impact the microblogging and newsfeed landscape.

tldraw's upcoming re-launch

tldraw • 137 implied HN points • 20 Mar 23
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. The new version of tldraw is leaving beta and moving to tldraw.com on April 4th, 2023.
  2. Content from beta.tldraw.com will be moved to tldraw.com without being sent to their servers.
  3. The original version of tldraw will be available at old.tldraw.com for viewing read-only projects.

The long and winding road of TikTok Shop

Tech Buzz China Insider • 99 implied HN points • 09 Dec 23
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. TikTok expanded its e-commerce business internationally, but faced challenges with live commerce in Western markets like the UK due to cultural differences and difficulty in replicating the success seen in China.
  2. There were issues with long delivery times, poor customer service, and cultural clashes within TikTok's e-commerce division in the UK, causing difficulties and staff turnover.
  3. Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms are encountering challenges abroad due to changing regulations, such as increased postage costs, compliance requirements, and consumer protection concerns.

RIP Skype

The PhilaVerse • 123 implied HN points • 28 Feb 25
đź•ą Technology Platforms
  1. Microsoft is shutting down Skype on May 5, 2025, after more than two decades of service. They are focusing on Teams now for communication.
  2. Users have 10 weeks to move their data from Skype to Teams or export their information. After that, user data will be kept until the end of 2025 before it is deleted.
  3. Skype had a big drop in users, going from 300 million at its peak to only 36 million daily users by 2023, which is why Microsoft made this decision.