Featuring article and video by Matt Taibbi and Matt Orfalea
A) Watch this Video first: (This video is a placeholder until I finalize and record my script)
C) Below: Items #1-5
1) The Problem:
Many Substack writers, such as Matt Taibbi and Matt Orfalea, stretch the Overton Window (what is considered politically acceptable to say) 1
Unfortunately, while Racket News’s existing subscribers are receptive to it, when it is shared with others, it meets resistance that prevents Substack outlets like Racket News from broadening their subscriber base. 2
I’ve developed the CiteIt Citation App to address 3 stumbling blocks faced by Substack writers:
- Skeptics suspect that quotes have been taken out of context, 3 while also being ..
- too busy and dismissive to investigate whether their suspicions or a the writer’s negative reputation are warranted.4 5
- Gatekeepers for the establishment nitpick,6 censor, shadow-ban, throttle, or even threaten perjury charges when independent writers challenge establishment interests or perspectives. 7
- Adding to these stumbling blocks, partisan allies react to the arguments of partisan gatekeepers, arguing
they pretend that they’re being censored when in reality they just don’t want editors but they need them
- Adding to these stumbling blocks, partisan allies react to the arguments of partisan gatekeepers, arguing
2) How CiteIt Works:
Let’s look at an example article — Matt Taibbi’s Nord Stream article — containing what I call “naked quotations” — that is quotations that have no surrounding context.8. These type of quotations are regarded with suspicion by non-aligned non-subscribers.
Now, lets see the same article, only with the writer using CiteIt to:
- link to their sources, 9
- lookup the context, and 10
- display it to the reader (see: right-side popup dialog: “Quote Context by CiteIt.net“):
CiteIt Looks up Linked quotations:
Video and Transcript have been looked up from link: (right side popup: “Quote Context by CiteIt.net”)
Using the current WordPress implementation of CiteIt, the plugin adds 2 custom buttons to the editor.
The writers click on the “CiteIt inline popup button”, and paste in the source URL just like a traditional editor “link” button. 11
Add 2 CiteIt buttons to Editor:
The Writer enters the link URL after they select the quote and click the “CiteIt inline popup” button
Then when the article is published, the CiteIt plugin locates all the cited web sources and YouTube video transcripts.1213
The CiteIt webservice then finds the 500 characters of context before and after the quote and saves that information to display when the reader requests it.
Contextual citations are about more than policing cherry-picked quotes or disinformation. Contextual Citations give readers a better understanding of the source. This can clearly be seen when readers are able to dive into the context surrounding quotes like The only thing we have to fear is “fear itself
“.
3) What Success Would Look Like:
I want Substack to establish a reputation for a higher standard of transparency and trust in media by:
- better informing their readers, 14
- build trust, and 15
- helping to differentiate Substack from platforms like Twitter and Threads,
- defending reputations from gatekeepers and partisans. 16
If I aim higher, I will know we’ve been maximally successful when I hear the concept of contextual citations discussed in general conversation:17
- associated with Substack, trust, innovation, and independent writers, 18
- described as a solution to “naked quotations“1920, and
- used as a critique of establishment media that does not provide contextual transparency.21
4) Working with Substack
I anticipate that I would best be able to realize my vision for contextual citations by working with Substack. CiteIt technology could be deployed first for long-form writing22, and later across the platform:
5) Watch Demo: (A Writer’s view)
D) Next:
Watch Video: How to Create Contextual Citations using the WordPress Plugin
Documentation: how to use the WordPress plugin
username: public password: demo22
Footnotes:
In a world that is increasingly partisan and censorious.↩
By resistance I include resistance from non-subscribers who may experience cognitive dissonance with the work, resistance in the form of being too busy or dismissive to investigate the claims, and resistance from gatekeepers.↩
Sometimes skepticism is a rationalization when an article is shared with people who are non-aligned politically. The non-subscriber may face cognitive dissonance when their political views don’t align with a work.↩
A friend of mine who I shared the Nord Stream article with, initially balked for partisan reasons because he had been told that Matt Taibbi was “right-wing” for associating with Elon Musk.↩
I do not think CiteIt is a panacea, but it can be emphasized that the writer is referencing sources and has made it easy for readers to inspect them. ↩
See Mehdi Hassan’s “nitpicking”, which had the effect of gatekeeping for the “CIC” (Censorship Industrial Complex) over the Twitter Files↩
In a hearing on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government,” Stacey Plaskett, Virgin Island Democratic Delegate threatened Matt Taibbi with up to 5 years in prison for “perjury.”↩
I really like Matt Orfalea’s video, which I recall preceded the article, but this video format is designed to tell a story and can’t provide enough context to satisfy skeptics. When I did a usability test of my demo article, I found that a significant number of readers skipped the video and went straight to the article. That’s why my demo integrated contextual video with the article. I know at this point, readers haven’t been introduced to CiteIt, so they don’t know what to expect, but my hope is that this becomes conventional for readers..↩
The WordPress implementation add a special button that writers use to link to their source↩
When an article is published, CiteIt follows the link and looks up the source’s context↩
My goal is to make it as easy to create a contextual link as it is to create a standard link.↩
To be sure, it is currently possible to embed video in articles, but this takes up space and breaks up the flow of the article. The other option is to create a link that sends the reader to a new page. CiteIt keeps the reader within the article and automates the process of looking up and displaying the context.↩
You can see how contextual YouTube citations are implemented in HTML on the homepage.↩
Quotes, such as the FDR quote (above) about “fear itself” can convey much more information to the reader when context is added, particularly when videos are used.↩
Readers who can easily verify quotes are more like to understand and trust a writer that makes themselves more accountable to inspection.↩
I would anticipate that Substack writers could use CiteIt’s contextual citations as a marketing point that demonstrates the higher standard of transparency that they employ, which the mainstream press will have a hard time matching.↩
I’m using this term of “contextual citations” as a generic way to describe citations that show readers the context of a text, audio, or video, that doesn’t require the reader to follow a link in which they leave the original work.↩
I hope readers recognize that innovation is coming via Substack and independent writers. Make sure to claim credit for it! ↩
Or whatever you want to name the concept of quotes that do not show their context↩
The difference between a “cherry picked” quotation and a “naked quote is that a cherry-picked quote is deliberately selected to be misrepresentative, while a “naked quotation” is a quotation that does not contain context. Naked quotations need not be deceptive. Rather they are opaque to the reader↩
Ideally, I would want to hear the concept of contextual citations associated with the entire Substack platform: including notes, podcasts, and video ↩
I saved a copy of a Slide that outlines Proposed Next Steps ↩
CiteIt could help differentiate Substack Notes from Twittter and Threads ↩
CiteIt could make it easy for anyone on Substack to embed a contextual quote of a podcast or video ↩
Adding CiteIt support for podcasts would require adding transcription support.↩
It appears that Substack podcasts have RSS Summaries, but are not completely transcribed. (Historic.ly)
↩CiteIt currently supports YouTube, but could be expanded to support Substack Video, Vimeo, and other formats if it added transcription support.↩