Is Substack Becoming Too Much Like Facebook and Other Social Media?

Thoughts

As a creative person who writes primarily stories and poems, as well as uses photography to sometimes accompany my work, I was ecstatic when I discovered an online social network for creatives known as “Ello.” It was a quirky, “artsy” place that focused on providing creatives, such as writers, poets, photographers, artists, designers, as well as programmers, a place to share their work and the possibility to collaborate on joint projects or for companies who enlisted them to work on a particular project. It was like no other social media site. It was a virtual community that promised to never show advertisements or sell user data. For me and others, it became a second virtual home.

Unfortunately, Ello ran out of steam (and funding) nine years after its launch in 2014. Like other Ello participants, I tried several possible alternatives, but never felt “at home” at any of them. No matter what platform or site I tried, it seemed to follow popular “social media” platforms too much, such as Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and the like, where you felt lost in the crowd of people who posted everything under the sun but not the creative work I sought.

Since creating my Meanderings Substack, I feel increasingly lost in the crowd again. Is it my imagination, or has Substack become overrun by people who use it the same way they use Facebook or Instagram? There are numerous writers and others whose work I enjoy and either subscribe or follow, but whenever I open the app, I find a deluge of posts and notes from evermore people, many of whom repost bon mots and or images from other posts countless time daily, or those who post their observations and thoughts of several times during the day in morning, afternoon, and evening increments.

There are of course alternatives to Substack. Beehive, Ghost, Patreon, Write.as, among others, but they are primarily marketing subscription services and most charge a monthly fee, although some are free, providing you have few subscribers and don’t need specific products.

The truth is I’m not interested in running a business, which is why I never monetized my Substack. Instead of asking subscribers to send me $5.00 monthly, I’d prefer if you really like what I write, you bought one or both of my two books instead, which would be much cheaper than a paid subscription. For those of you who subscribe or follow my Substack, I’m grateful to those who read my work regularly, which is a small percentage of the overall number.

My question is: Is Substack becoming too much like Facebook and other social media? You tell me.