Introducing StubSack
A Workaround Solution to Twitter's Substack Limitations
Yesterday, I noticed that Twitter started limiting user engagement with tweets containing Substack publication links. I think this is complete nonsense, and it got me fired up enough to build a simple workaround called StubSack.
StubSack is a project to help people share articles without being detected as Substack links. This means tweets containing the links shouldn't get flagged or limited, allowing them to spread more freely. The whole thing is built on GitHub Pages, making it super easy for anyone to fork and create their own version with a different base URL. For example, different base URLs could be "https://johndoe.github.io/stubsack" or "https://janedoe.github.io/my-stubsack-page". Anyone copying the project can use a different username and change the repo name, making it simple to spread this functionality across many URLs.
Having StubSack available at multiple URLs makes it much more challenging for Twitter to shut it down without imposing restrictions on github.io links in general. Since there's so much important content hosted on github.io, limiting those links wholesale would be a drastic measure and, therefore, highly unlikely.
To use StubSack for sharing Substack articles, all you need to do is visit any StubSack page, like the main site at https://rynomad.github.io/stubsack, enter the article URL, and you'll get a StubSack link that should get past the censors. For instance, the generated link might look like "https://johndoe.github.io/stubsack#eW91ci1zdWJzdGFjay11cmw=".
So, here it is: my contribution to help Substack authors share their work without being held back by Twitter's limitations. StubSack isn't a company or a commercial product; it's just one hacky attempt to do the right thing in response to a frustrating situation. I hope it helps others out there who feel the same way and want to keep the free flow of information alive. I encourage you to visit my own StubSack site at https://rynomad.github.io/stubsack, give it a try, and make your own copy of the service.
P.S.
Given what we’ve learned from the twitter algorithm being open sourced, consider engaging positively with this tweet to help spread the word :)