Revue will shut down and all data will be deleted

[gregdoesit]

Some insider details as someone who knew some of the Revue team - based mostly in the Netherlands.

The majority of the team was cut in the first wave of Twitter layoffs on 4 November (wrote about this [1]) - when 50% of people were let go. By this time, most of them were working on Twitter's long form tweets, which feature was being tested with customers.

So this decision was indirectly made on the first week of the Twitter takeover. In the end, it was perhaps two people left from the old Revue team. Today, there's only the founder of Revue, who wrote this article, everyone else let go AFAIK.

What was very, very surprising to me is how, a month and a half later, Elon Musk replied to a question on how he's open to the idea of acquiring Substack [2]. But he just shut down Revue, which was exactly "Twitter's Substack" version with all the same features: newsletters, support for paid, plus first-class integration into Twitter that Substack does not have.

[1] https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/cruel-changes-at-twitter

[2] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1607936197602562050

[ssharp]

> But he just shut down Revue, which was exactly "Twitter's Substack" version

Google Video was "Google's YouTube" but Google still decided YouTube was worth acquiring.

[pnf]

I suspect the value of something like that isn't the tech but the established writers+audiences. Substack is the best current example of independent journalism and columnists managing and monetizing their loyal readership without the brand umbrella of a major publication.

[tobyjsullivan]

> Elon Musk replied to a question on how he's open to the idea of acquiring Substack [2].

Every CEO is “open to” any acquisition, just as any VC is “open to” funding any company. At least until someone asks for terms.

The only interpretation of “open to” in the business world is “not a hard, irreversible ‘no’.”

[philip1209]

I'm finishing a Revue data importer for Postcard. If you want to move over your posts + subscribers, there's a form to submit them for import:

https://postcard.page/alternative/revue

[maxfurman]

What was Revue? I'd never heard of it before today.

[Centigonal]

Substack competitor acquired by twitter

[eatonphil]

Micah Lerner who publishes a popular Systems Papers newsletter used it. Now he's on substack.

https://twitter.com/micahlerner/status/1608249534676885504

[linuxftw]

Neither had I. Probably the right decision to terminate it, likely loses several million dollars per year or more.

[trynewideas]

Discussion from Twitter's acquisition in 2021: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25914865

[netman21]

"Excellent acquisition. Twitter will definitely compete and take marketshare from Substack" did not age well.

[Andugal]

"You would have to be a complete idiot to try and build your revenue on something owned by Twitter. They will shut you down at any time, for any reason, with no recourse."

Indeed they did.

[mattkevan]

Probably fired everyone who worked there without realising. ‘Oh crap, there’s no-one left. Quick, write something and stick it on the homepage.’

It’s telling that the sign in with twitter functionality was broken for a few days after the initial announcement. Was seriously worried I wouldn’t be able to download my subscriber list and content.

[rchaud]

This has been known for weeks, I'm surprised that it only seems to be appearing on HN now.

[forgotpwd16]

Apparently someone submitted it few weeks ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33985798

Just never got any upvotes.

[kuboble]

" it is your responsibility to adhere to any (...) regulations in connection with your subscriber list (...)and Twitter, Inc. has not obtained permission for you to use subscriber information for any purpose. "

What does that mean exactly? > "Twitter hasn't obtained permission for you"?

[Centigonal]

It's poorly worded, but I think they're saying, "this link will let you download your list of subscribers. We're giving this to you with no warranties, don't use it to spam people or otherwise break the law."

Honestly, I don't think that's a particularly strong legal defense, but IANAL.

I do appreciate the revue team for letting users port their subscribers to other services. This is basic decency, but with Twitter banning links to other social media, I don't know what to expect from them anymore.

[ddri]

Putting aside product strategy and Howard Hughes for a minute, it's worth paying respect to the Revue team. A little group of good humans in the Netherlands, creating a slick and well designed product in an otherwise competitive space. It's a testament to a lot of good work and the kind of energy that makes this industry such a joy at times.

It's also one of endless examples of the downsides of acquisition for users (if not the founder/team with equity, who know the game they're playing). I often think of the analogy of rich kids from dysfunctional families who buy a lot of cool stuff and don't really do much with it after their social signal moment. Been on both side of this to some degree in the industry and it's never fun to see the users let down at the end of it.

While this is part of what keeps the industry going, it would be nice to see more open source outcomes for such well designed products. But to end on a positive... well done team, hope you all go on to make awesome things again.

[feklest]

Does anyone know if the Internet Archive is on the case?

A lot of profile and newsletter links of the form "https://www.getrevue.co/profile/..." are going to be dead very soon.

[mattl]

Check Jason Scott’s Twitter account. I’m sure it’s being worked on.

[cheriot]

Surprising they couldn't make this work. It seems like every substack author promotes their work on twitter. Maybe it's just hard to avoid tossing a few babies out with the bath water when reducing headcount by 75%.

[input_sh]

I don't think there was an actual attempt to make it work. They've acquired it, slapped it below the profile, and when Musk took over Twitter it was immediately obvious it's going to die.

[johnhenry]

I wonder if they'd still be around if they weren't acquired?

[aliqot]

Vine

[stewx]

Bring back Nuzzel. https://twitter.com/nuzzel

[jfmontesdeoca]

We have a homage to our beloved Nuzzel at Newslit Social (https://www.newslit.co/social) that you might like. I was one of the Engineers at Nuzzel ;)

[dangoor]

Nuzzel kinda sorta exists as "Top Articles" which is a feature of the Blue subscription.

[xena]

This is a shame. I archived all my Revue posts to my blog: https://xeiaso.net/blog/site-update-revue-backups

Next time I try to run a newsletter it will be something I self-host.

[deely3]

Seriously, Musk fired all people?

[hobo_mark]

Sounds like a good time to ask: alternatives to Substack that people actually use?

[burkaman]

I subscribe to some writers that have switched from Substack to Ghost (https://ghost.org/). It's open source, seems like a good company from what I know, and the experience as a subscriber is basically the same as Substack.

[holler]

Maybe superficial but it seemed "tacked on" in terms of UI/UX. I don't think most people go to Twitter to read newsletters, and the way it was implemented just felt weird.

[Giorgi]

Looks like they discovered that nobody pays for subscriptions.

[vincefutr23]

A good product / VC strategy would be to double down on anything Twitter shuts down about 18 months after

Open APIs > short form mobile video > creator owned long form text?

[paxys]

Substack already exists. Twitter wasn't the innovator in the area, like the other products you mention.

[autokad]

I sincerely doubt that.

[xrd]

Apparently this happened almost a month ago?

[onlyali]

Elon gone wild. I'd think this has much more value continuing than not...