Surprise, it’s me and it’s not Wednesday! That’s because I have news for you.
Call it coincidence if you like, but just when social media dissatisfaction is running high, Substack has rolled out a new way to connect. So as of now, in addition to getting a weekly “Italicus: a writer's life in Italy” missive from me, you lovely subscribers have the option to chat about whatever topic I throw out there. I’m honestly not sure how much I’ll use this feature, but I figured there’s no reason not to give it shot. Hopefully I won’t end up shouting into the void.
Though you’re hearing about this via email, to join a chat you’ll need to download the Substack app (messages are sent via the app, not email). You can opt to turn on push notifications so you’ll know when a conversation is happening. Or not.
And now I’ll hand the mic to the Substack folks, who will explain how this gizmo works.
How to get started
Download the app by clicking this link or the button below. Chat is only on iOS for now, but chat is coming to the Android app soon.
Open the app and tap the Chat icon. It looks like two bubbles in the bottom bar, and you’ll see a row for my chat inside.
That’s it! Jump into my thread to say hi, and if you have any issues, check out Substack’s FAQ.
I’m about to start my first chat thread—hope to see you there. A presto!