A Christmas Miracle: Elon fails to kill this site

Since my ban, word-of-mouth has replaced Twitter as my main source of traffic.

Earlier this year Elon Musk banned my Twitter account. All the sordid details are here but the gist of it is that a clique of right-wing goons gamed the system and got me flagged on false charges. This is not something the system under previous ownership would have let them do, which is why I blame Elon: he seems to have custom-rigged the site to silence the left and amplify the right.

There were a lot of annoying things about this, but the main one is that Twitter, for this site, was my main source of traffic. In the past I used it not only to promote my writing, but to engage other writers and activists with it. The moment I was banned I immediately thought: “Will anyone ever read me again?”

But as you can see above, my fears were baseless. Immediately after my ban, I got what appears to have been a massive sympathy bump of readers who were annoyed with Elon…

…and then, after a lull in September, my traffic began to surge again. At this point, judging by the metrics, it’s clear that my traffic is being driven first and foremost by word of mouth: people forwarding my articles, linking to them on their own sites or sharing them on their own social media accounts, and so on.

This turn of events has been truly miraculous for me, and all I can say is: thank you. Also, to celebrate, I’m going to launch a limited-time discount! Click here between now and January 1st and you can get 20% off subscriptions prices in 2025 — that’s $5/month or $40 for a full year subscription! And this offer also applies to gift subscriptions (just click here)!

This has been a year of ridiculous and completely unexpected growth for the site, and I couldn’t have done it without all of you. Happy holidays, and Merry Christmas for all who celebrate!