This is a Meta Edition — Are You Ready?
Let's level up and look ahead. But maybe not the way you expect it right now.
Berlin embraces the evening at 9 PM | New York enjoys the afternoon at 3 PM | LA basks in midday at 12 PM.
Greetings from Daniel, not speaking from the flight deck, getting ready for a sightseeing flight around Meta’s headquarters in Menlo Park. I’m your host for the first reader’s tour through the “Style & Stitches” Newsroom, featuring the data center with all the latest numbers and our media lab with prototypes to enhance your newsletter experience.
While taking you from the welcome desk to our newsroom, we'll cross the Substack campus. It's starting to feel a bit like the WeWork of Newsletters these days.
Meanwhile, let me share one aspect I love about my work as a journalist. Beyond reporting, I enjoy pushing the boundaries of a format, pulling some strings to make journalism more engaging for its users in the digital world.
What's Inside This Issue: Well … everything is a little bit different today. Let’s just jump in:
🧶 Style & Stitches Needs Your Support 🧶
Help fund our exploration and development goals with your Yearly Subscription (🧵) to make them a reality. We aim to realize 3 ideas in Q1, provided we reach our funding goal in January.
January Goal: 🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵 Achieved: X
🪡 Style & Stitches Guide for Threads & the Decentralized Social Media - Your knowledge base for all resources, reports, checklists, and how-tos. Free access for subscribers.
Bonus: + 🧵 🧵
🪡 Style & Stitches Fediverse Integration - We're building a bridge for Substack Newsletters to the Fediverse. If your newsletter is on Substack, you can use this bridge as well.
Bonus: + 🧵
🪡 Style & Stitches Podcast - The audio edition of this newsletter, completely built by AI. Free access with your subscription.
Subscription Rates: 5 Euro/Month or 50 Euro/Year - Save two months with an Annual Subscription
Here are all the details:
The First 100!
It's like something Aaron Sorkin or Shonda Rhimes could have scripted. On December 31st, the countdown for the first 100 subscribers went 97... 98... 99... and on January 1st, we hit 100 subscribers 🎉! Sending my 100th personal welcome email to Carsten was a milestone, and writing these emails has become a rewarding routine. Now, for the next 100 subscribers, I'm ready for a new challenge.
The beauty of pop-up publications is their dynamic nature. You don't need to know or plan every detail from the start. The format, content, distribution, and audience building can all be adjusted on the fly, allowing for experimentation.
When I started Style & Stitches, the premise was simple: it’s a newsletter about Threads, and I wanted to weave a narrative around news, analysis, and how-tos, integrating the handcrafting theme into our social media language as a playful interpretation of 'Threads.'
But alongside the first six issues and their content, here is what happened in the last two weeks:
I promoted this publication mainly on my Threads account, which has grown to 1100 followers (+46 Subscribers). I did two postings each on Facebook (+7), Instagram (+4), LinkedIn (+6) , and X/ Twitter (+0). 2. Gained 27 subscribers through Substack and 9 directly, possibly via my blog’s newsletter.
Launched a Magazine on Flipboard to explore this distribution channel, especially in the context of the evolving decentralized social web.
The Digital Newsroom offers my approach to a transparent and community-influenced editorial process. You can view upcoming stories, vote, comment, or add your ideas. While not everyone may participate, having the option is a cornerstone of a digital publication.
Reporting on Threads and decentralized social media, enhancing your newsletter experience, and sharing insights on the necessary add-ons - this is the essence of our pop-up publication.
Your Support is Vital:
🧶 Achieving 5 annual subscriptions for Style & Stitches 🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵 in January will enable us to create the Style & Stitches Guide for Threads and Decentralized Social Media.
🧶 Subscription Cost: 5 Euro/Month or 50 Euro/Year - save 2 Month with an Annual Subscription.
🧶 Reaching 7 subscriptions will fund a Fediverse integration for this newsletter (and yours, if you're on Substack). At 8 subscriptions, we'll also produce an audio version of this newsletter as a podcast.
Next: 100 Things To Do on Threads
A common question among new users on Threads is: "Okay, I'm here - now what?"
My Challenge for the Next 100 Subscribers: As we journey towards 200 subscribers, I will unveil a list titled "100 Things To Do on Threads." This list will grow with each new subscriber, featuring accounts to follow, features to explore, and patterns to maximize your Threads experience.
Even if you're already a Threads veteran, this list will offer fresh inspirations for your follower list, providing a handy guide to share with friends who are still navigating Threads.
In the Weeks Ahead, My Challenges Include …
… tackling my meta questions about newsletters:
Immediate Subscriber Engagement: Why should new subscribers wait for the next issue upon signing up? How can we instantly engage them?
Accessible Knowledge: How can we make a newsletter's growing wealth of information more accessible than just browsing through an archive?
Impact of Formats: Does providing a mobile-friendly messenger version or an audio version alongside long reads add value and appeal to a broader audience?
Newsletter Accessibility: With Wordpress blogs and Flipboard magazines integrating into the Fediverse, why not newsletters? How can we extend their reach beyond email?
Freemium Model: How can we develop a freemium model for newsletters, similar to podcasts, where the basic content is free, but paying subscribers get additional benefits like different formats, faster access to knowledge, and an ad-free experience?
Personalized Delivery Times: Why is the newsletter delivery time set by the publisher and not personalized to each subscriber's preferred reading time?
Newsletter Personalization: How can we further personalize newsletters, highlighting favorite subtopics or adding context for new readers?
My Concepts for the First Quarter of 2024 …
… answers the first five questions.
Style & Stitches Guide for Threads and Decentralized Social Media: This knowledge base abandons chronological order for a topic-driven approach, offering weekly updated access to all resources, reports, checklists, and how-tos. Think of it as a constantly updated book.
Style & Stitches Fediverse Integration: Having tested Fediverse integration on my personal blog, I'm excited to extend this to newsletters. I plan to create a bridge for Substack and Ghost Newsletters to the Fediverse, starting with this publication.
Style & Stitches Podcast: An AI-driven audio edition of this newsletter, with minimal editorial oversight. Leveraging my background in radio and podcasting, I aim for a high-quality, AI-narrated audio experience that surpasses typical AI-read news.
Your Support is Crucial:
🧶 Achieving 5 Annual Subscriptions for Style & Stitches 🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵 in January will enable the creation of the Style & Stitches Guide for the Decentralized Web.
🧶 Subscription Cost: 5 Euro/Month or 50 Euro/Year - Save two Month with an Annual Subscription.
🧶 Further Goals: With 7 subscriptions, we can build a Fediverse integration for this newsletter (and yours, if you're on Substack). At 8 subscriptions, we will also release an audio version of this newsletter as a podcast.Introducing Style & Stitches Paid-Subscriptions
While I'm enthusiastic about investing time and expertise into these projects, there are associated costs: selecting a suitable theme and hosting for the knowledgebase, licensing scripts and code for Fediverse integration, and utilizing AI-audio-production services. I've calculated the annual expenses and linked them to the budget achievable through your paid subscription to “Style & Stitches.”
With a Paid Subscription, You'll Eventually Gain Access to:
All newsletters, ad-free.
The complete archive of Style & Stitches (beyond the last 4 weeks).
The comprehensive "Style & Stitches Guide" knowledgebase.
A concise, mobile-friendly Executive Summary edition via email or messenger.
An audio version of the newsletter via podcast.
Subscription Options:
Monthly: Join us for 5 Euros.
Annual: Opt for the 50 Euro annual subscription, contributing to our January goal of 5 yearly subscriptions to launch the Guide or achieving all three goals for the first quarter with 8 subscriptions.
Digital Tapestry Collective: I view this subscription as your personal pass to the "Digital Tapestry Collective." This concept reflects the intricate and interconnected nature of social media, similar to a tapestry. As subscribers, you are the weavers contributing to and benefiting from this rich digital fabric.
As we conclude this virtual tour of the “Style & Stitches” newsroom, I want to thank you for being a subscriber. I hope to welcome you as one of our Tapestry Weavers, actively contributing to the expansion of this pop-up publication.
Stitch on,
Daniel 🧵
P.S.: Since I've shared some behind-the-scenes numbers of this newsletter, you might be interested in more available data:
Crafting Term of the Day: Weaving - Just as weaving interlaces threads to create a tapestry, every subscriber, story, and idea in "Style & Stitches" is intricately woven into the rich fabric of a digital collective for social media enthusiasts. Each contribution adds strength, color, and texture to our shared creation.
From Europe with <3