Not You Too, Substack! Stay Out of Promoting Content. Be a Platform.
Not the first to say it, But platforms SHOULD NOT pick winners among its users. But if so, help the people who need a boost the MOST!
Here we go again. I have been incredibly hopeful about the potential and possibilities of Substack - a platform & community I have come to enjoy being a part of, and have encouraged many others to participate in. But I have some serious concerns about it at the moment, and am worried that I am setting myself up to be heartbroken.
Long ago, before the platform evolved with Chat, Notes & more, three large, independent publishers (
, & ) set up here and then left, for different reasons. But it started me wondering why. I was a little sad and disagreed with their decision to bail (2 went to Ghost, the third to Locals) - I even tried to convince one to give Substack another chance based on all the new functionality. They chose to stay where they are, for now.Substack Leaning Into Corporate Media Personalities
This recent post to Notes by
, Substack COO and co-founder, showcased a lot of the big names they’ve attracted to create Substacks of their own, gaining notoriety for the platform. I love that the founders and executives are engaged and publishing and accessible. I thought they were listening, too - but now I’m not so sure.It hurts to see Substack give a boost to the creators who need it the least, celebrating their presence here and using them for their fame - which was generated using corporate-sponsored TV/Radio/Newspapers, which are partially responsible for the polarized discourse throughout much of the political world; and corporate media also was the driver behind why many of the smaller, independent publishers moved to Substack in the first place.
Now, they’ve hired someone from the Washington Post & CNN (the “elite” of corporate media) to “lead their politics initiatives.” Do you think that person will be amplifying independent creators that either didn’t emerge directly from corporate media, or that don’t have massive audiences already here? Do you think they’ll be promoting anti-duopoly messaging, or third parties/independents much, if at all? My guess is likely not.
Also note in that paragraph who Hamish mentions (politicans, candidates, analysts & policy experts), but what did he glaringly omit? Other people publishing on Substack. Regular people with observations OUTSIDE THE DC BUBBLE. This feels very insular.
I feel like a canary in the coal mine, in some ways. There are not many of us shouting loudly about the preferential treatment the people with famous names get. Thanks to
, , and others who have also expressed concerns about this on Notes. Given that the On Substack post has close to 1,000 comments at the moment, others clearly have opinions about this too.
Was This a Foregone Conclusion?
This year, Substack has been spotlighting some of the bigger names on the platform. Brilliant Substack writer (& Notes pugilist)
from published 2 articles recently, decrying why this is disappointing, but sadly not entirely unpredictable. It also does not seem to bode well for small, independent creators looking to build an ecosystem of content & to distribute it from one place here at Substack.
We are both hopeful and WANT Substack to not work against us, but the warning signs are there.
Notice that I won’t to refer to the word ”writers” - which Substack uses to describe the people who make content here. Calling all creators “writers” is very limiting, and a little insulting to the video producers, podcasters, photographers & musicians, among others, trying to make Substack their content home & distribution hub every day & week. This is a little nit-picky, sure, but it makes a statement to everyone who doesn’t write regularly, nonetheless.
What Now? WordPress? Ugh.
Compare what Substack is doing with the self-hosted version of WordPress (wordpress.org), which literally provides a framework to create whatever you want without ANY engagement, support or boosting from the creator of the WordPress publishing platform, AutoMattic.
I have been avoiding moving to WordPress because it is a beast to maintain the most up-to-date version, find the right plugins, keep them up-to-date, and their site builders are clunky compared to the interface here.
However, if Substack is going to go this route of being a champion for the corporate media personalities that are part of the reason why we are where we are politically in this country, I will have to start looking elsewhere, as content that questions the accuracy of the security state will rarely, if ever, be supported.
Hamish even noted recently when a prominent Wordpress site moved to Substack. They know who their competition is.
Please,
, please stop me from going to WordPress. Convince me you’re not going to be promoting much better-funded competitors, further disadvantaging independent content.Don’t promote the corporate media personalities who used to scoff at Substack - they don’t appreciate this platform & will move on the minute it is no longer the hot thing. It makes much more sense to showcase the smaller independent newsletters that made Substack what it is today. S/o to
& - maybe they have something to say here?What are your thoughts about a platform amplifying its largest creators, who came from corporate media? Sound off in the comments below.
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The insincere phrase "leaning in" is one of the most common toppings on the word salad garbage pile that includes "let's unpack this" and other lame Ted Talkisms for people who want to sound like they are being smarter than they actually are.
Substack needs to maximize revenue, because remember, it's only taking 10%. So book authors, NYT best sellers and political commentators do get special promotions to be sure. As well as celebrities, influencers and people with strong social media followings. Substack really was only active since 2018 (technically founded near the end of 2017), contrary to popular belief it's barely scaled yet. To become profitable it needs its biggest personalities to exceed expectations in their performance. Since it's all about paid subs.
Influencer marketing is what you do when you are a relatively cash poor startup without a marketing budget. So growth in the app and otherwise is quasi-organic and riding the coattails of the actual writers. A very small number of people actually read its own promotions.
I personally don't care who they promote or why, I just want the ecosystem to grow faster. And not just in the U.S. It's not a meritocracy, your body of work over the last decade actually matters. Very unfortunate that Substack grew off the back of political writers and Twitter, but that's the choice they made at the time.
It's a subscription network, the only metric that actually matters is paid subs growth. There's no reason why you can't have a beehiiv, a ConvertKit, a Locals and a Substack. Many Substack writers have a LinkedIn Newsletter for example. It's never been an this vs. that as paid subs are only one way to make revenue.