Hmm, I’ve been thinking the same thing recently. I joined Substack initially to subscribe to someone who inspired me to write poetry. I joined a local poetry group and participated in group sessions, open mic nights & inclusion in a published anthology.
On Substack I wrote several newsletters which very few read. My creative heart lies elsewhere. I turned to Notes to remain somewhat active. Three issues factor into my decision to refrain from writing anymore newsletters.
1. I became concerned when a commenter wrote that an article I just read was posted verbatim from Chatgbt. Disconcerting enough, however, the “ author” agreed unashamedly.
2. I have a catalog of work which I am editing to publish in book form. Substack is very crowded & not my audience.
3. Substack’s algorithm has turned a potentially creative platform into what I consider FB Lite.
Thank you for your comments. In my opinion, Substack has changed in the past three years. Alternatives such as Ghost, Patreon, Writs.as, etc. don't appeal to me either. I kept a blog for several years, but hardly anyone read it or commented. As I've written after Ello died, I tried other potential social media, before coming to Substack. My goal is not to earn a living with writing, I've already done that in different ways. I simply want to be read. Fortunately, I have a loyal base of subscribers and followers who read my posts regularly and often comment, which is enough for me. An acquaintance from my college days, became a fairly well-known poet and professor of creative writing, advised me, if my work wasn't being published in literary journals or elsewhere, I should publish them on my own wherever I could, such as platforms like Substack. And this is what I do. If a publication accepts a poem or story, I'll republish it on Substack later. Whatever path you choose, I wish you the best.
Paul, I also ignore Chat and turned off email notification from those to whom Isubscriber. My beef is primarily with Notes, which clutters the UI to such a point, it makes it difficult to find new posts from those writers I want read without using the search option.
I do not like the social media aspect of Substack. I largely ignore Chat and try to keep my interactions with subscribers specifically tied to Posts or work published as a Note. I have had readers subscribe who then either use Chat to ask for donations to their charities or to ask if I’m interested in a more personal relationship beyond the work. Notes are useful for shorter pieces, especially restacks of shorter past work which exposes it to a different audience.
I try to respond to every comment and restack on the app itself. My email remains manageable.
Thanks, T, I loved your illustrations as much as the stories and other writing you posted on Ello. You're right, I doubt if we'll ever see anything like it again.
As you know, Fred, I left Substack for awhile and went to Ghost. I didn't enjoy that, so I very reluctantly came back. I've disabled more or less everything that isn't necessary for the newsletter itself. So I don't look at Notes or use the chat features. I deleted the app when I left and never reinstalled it, so I use the mobile web or desktop for everything. (Just an aside: that's how I rolled at Ello, too.) I only read the authors I'm actually interested in. That has made it all manageable. It's still not Ello, and I doubt there will be another, but it's tolerable.
I may need to launch a new Substack from scratch. Part of.my problem is I have too many interests in addition to writing and reading the work of other writers and poets. I also read philosophy, political observations from journalists and politicians, and posts relating to Taoism. Luckily, I'm a fast reader.
I don’t agree. It appears my experience has been different than yours. The posts on Substack are far deeper than any other social media I have encountered including Facebook. I feel it is similar to my website.
Joan, I think you missed my point. Yes, many Substacks posts are deeper.After all, there are many professionals from diverse disciplines who post on Substack. But overall, in the nearly three years since I arrived at Substack, I've noticed a significant increase in posts that resemble those of Facebook and other social media sites. This is especially true of the deluge of daily Notes. But you subscribe to or follow far fewer Substackers than I, which is the mistake I made early on.
I don't bother with notes and chats. I can do that on other social media, typically with people I know personally. Yes, I am selective in my subscriptions and choose people like you who post short stories, essays, memoir, photos, and poems. I am glad you told me about Substack.
Notes are out of hand, I think, but that seems to be how people get noticed (too much). I have nothing to say most days and I don't have any famous quotes to share. Mostly it's just filler. But hey, I'm still here. :)
I'm not sure if I'll meander anywhere, but I may create an alternative substack with a different title…unless something like Ello emerges, but I'd give everyone a heads up.
I think so, Frederick. Substack is dominated by those who treat the platform like a social network, which is why I’ve been wondering if it’s worth sticking with.
But isn’t it the same in society, in literature, in the arts, in music? Fast food is what reigns supreme these days.
I understand why you feel frustrated, Frederick. But fortunately I don't have the problem you describe. I only get notifications – in my email – from those creatives I HAVE subscribed too. And those I gladly follow. They are truly a source of joy and inspiration for me! ---
Once in a while, through them, I come in contact with new sites I might be interested in, so the number of the ones I subscribe to has slowly increased. Seldom, but it happens that I unsubscribe someone. ---
When I get a new subscriber it happens that their brief presentation says that they also subscribe to for example "678 other Substacks". Eh? How can ANYONE manage that? Not me. Either my email or I would collapse. Or both. :) And other social media I know nothing of, nor can I say that I miss them. Too preoccupied with this one. With love, Maria
I don't know enough about Substack to compare it with Facebook (and I don't know anything about the other platforms you mention) but here, I only get notifications from people I follow like you, Joan, Wendy...I don't see a feed like Facebook's. Now, I only look at it in the computer not the phone, so maybe it looks different depending on the device.
Bueno, I love to read your posts so let me know if you move to another platform. The only one I have, besides Facebook, is my personal blog, https://teredovalpage.com/ I don't write there very often, but have kept it since 2010 (and the Spanish one since 2008). I still find them more personal and easier to deal with than any other platform.
I subscribe to several different substacks and they email me a newsletter every day. I don’t see anything other than the ones I subscribe to. Maybe it’s different for a writer but as a reader I only see what I subscribe to, so it’s nothing like FB which is pretty much all stuff I don’t want to see these days
Thanks, Ruth, for your feedback. Perhaps I need to go back to the drawing board. I’m thinking of archiving my current stack, ditching this one, and creating a new one. Hope SF is treating you well. Are you still singing gigs?
That sounds like a good idea, unless you could just block the people you don’t want to hear from. I’ve been using Bluesky, it has an effective block button.
I still go to jams and sit in at other people’s gigs but I don’t feel like being committed to anything right now. My brother died and I’m administering his estate.
Hmm, I’ve been thinking the same thing recently. I joined Substack initially to subscribe to someone who inspired me to write poetry. I joined a local poetry group and participated in group sessions, open mic nights & inclusion in a published anthology.
On Substack I wrote several newsletters which very few read. My creative heart lies elsewhere. I turned to Notes to remain somewhat active. Three issues factor into my decision to refrain from writing anymore newsletters.
1. I became concerned when a commenter wrote that an article I just read was posted verbatim from Chatgbt. Disconcerting enough, however, the “ author” agreed unashamedly.
2. I have a catalog of work which I am editing to publish in book form. Substack is very crowded & not my audience.
3. Substack’s algorithm has turned a potentially creative platform into what I consider FB Lite.
II just read your haiku & subscribed.
Thank you for your comments. In my opinion, Substack has changed in the past three years. Alternatives such as Ghost, Patreon, Writs.as, etc. don't appeal to me either. I kept a blog for several years, but hardly anyone read it or commented. As I've written after Ello died, I tried other potential social media, before coming to Substack. My goal is not to earn a living with writing, I've already done that in different ways. I simply want to be read. Fortunately, I have a loyal base of subscribers and followers who read my posts regularly and often comment, which is enough for me. An acquaintance from my college days, became a fairly well-known poet and professor of creative writing, advised me, if my work wasn't being published in literary journals or elsewhere, I should publish them on my own wherever I could, such as platforms like Substack. And this is what I do. If a publication accepts a poem or story, I'll republish it on Substack later. Whatever path you choose, I wish you the best.
Paul, I also ignore Chat and turned off email notification from those to whom Isubscriber. My beef is primarily with Notes, which clutters the UI to such a point, it makes it difficult to find new posts from those writers I want read without using the search option.
I do not like the social media aspect of Substack. I largely ignore Chat and try to keep my interactions with subscribers specifically tied to Posts or work published as a Note. I have had readers subscribe who then either use Chat to ask for donations to their charities or to ask if I’m interested in a more personal relationship beyond the work. Notes are useful for shorter pieces, especially restacks of shorter past work which exposes it to a different audience.
I try to respond to every comment and restack on the app itself. My email remains manageable.
Thanks, T, I loved your illustrations as much as the stories and other writing you posted on Ello. You're right, I doubt if we'll ever see anything like it again.
As you know, Fred, I left Substack for awhile and went to Ghost. I didn't enjoy that, so I very reluctantly came back. I've disabled more or less everything that isn't necessary for the newsletter itself. So I don't look at Notes or use the chat features. I deleted the app when I left and never reinstalled it, so I use the mobile web or desktop for everything. (Just an aside: that's how I rolled at Ello, too.) I only read the authors I'm actually interested in. That has made it all manageable. It's still not Ello, and I doubt there will be another, but it's tolerable.
I may need to launch a new Substack from scratch. Part of.my problem is I have too many interests in addition to writing and reading the work of other writers and poets. I also read philosophy, political observations from journalists and politicians, and posts relating to Taoism. Luckily, I'm a fast reader.
I don’t agree. It appears my experience has been different than yours. The posts on Substack are far deeper than any other social media I have encountered including Facebook. I feel it is similar to my website.
Joan, I think you missed my point. Yes, many Substacks posts are deeper.After all, there are many professionals from diverse disciplines who post on Substack. But overall, in the nearly three years since I arrived at Substack, I've noticed a significant increase in posts that resemble those of Facebook and other social media sites. This is especially true of the deluge of daily Notes. But you subscribe to or follow far fewer Substackers than I, which is the mistake I made early on.
I don't bother with notes and chats. I can do that on other social media, typically with people I know personally. Yes, I am selective in my subscriptions and choose people like you who post short stories, essays, memoir, photos, and poems. I am glad you told me about Substack.
Notes are out of hand, I think, but that seems to be how people get noticed (too much). I have nothing to say most days and I don't have any famous quotes to share. Mostly it's just filler. But hey, I'm still here. :)
I agree with you, Carole, especially about Notes being out of hand. Some people post and repost notes constantly.
Wherever you next meander, drop ‘a crumb’ so I can follow.
I'm not sure if I'll meander anywhere, but I may create an alternative substack with a different title…unless something like Ello emerges, but I'd give everyone a heads up.
Just keep on keepin’ on, wherever. Your writing matters. The pen is mightier…
I think so, Frederick. Substack is dominated by those who treat the platform like a social network, which is why I’ve been wondering if it’s worth sticking with.
But isn’t it the same in society, in literature, in the arts, in music? Fast food is what reigns supreme these days.
I understand why you feel frustrated, Frederick. But fortunately I don't have the problem you describe. I only get notifications – in my email – from those creatives I HAVE subscribed too. And those I gladly follow. They are truly a source of joy and inspiration for me! ---
Once in a while, through them, I come in contact with new sites I might be interested in, so the number of the ones I subscribe to has slowly increased. Seldom, but it happens that I unsubscribe someone. ---
When I get a new subscriber it happens that their brief presentation says that they also subscribe to for example "678 other Substacks". Eh? How can ANYONE manage that? Not me. Either my email or I would collapse. Or both. :) And other social media I know nothing of, nor can I say that I miss them. Too preoccupied with this one. With love, Maria
Perhaps early on, I subscribed or followed back when I shouldn’t have? I may create a new stack and ditch the current one.
I don't know enough about Substack to compare it with Facebook (and I don't know anything about the other platforms you mention) but here, I only get notifications from people I follow like you, Joan, Wendy...I don't see a feed like Facebook's. Now, I only look at it in the computer not the phone, so maybe it looks different depending on the device.
Thank you, Teresa,I think I made a mistake early on when I initially created my Substack.
Bueno, I love to read your posts so let me know if you move to another platform. The only one I have, besides Facebook, is my personal blog, https://teredovalpage.com/ I don't write there very often, but have kept it since 2010 (and the Spanish one since 2008). I still find them more personal and easier to deal with than any other platform.
I used to keep a personal blog, but hardly anyone read or commented, so I deleted it, but imported relevant material to my Substack archive.
Such an interesting discussion you have sparked! I think your Substack is bueno.
I subscribe to several different substacks and they email me a newsletter every day. I don’t see anything other than the ones I subscribe to. Maybe it’s different for a writer but as a reader I only see what I subscribe to, so it’s nothing like FB which is pretty much all stuff I don’t want to see these days
Thanks, Ruth, for your feedback. Perhaps I need to go back to the drawing board. I’m thinking of archiving my current stack, ditching this one, and creating a new one. Hope SF is treating you well. Are you still singing gigs?
That sounds like a good idea, unless you could just block the people you don’t want to hear from. I’ve been using Bluesky, it has an effective block button.
I still go to jams and sit in at other people’s gigs but I don’t feel like being committed to anything right now. My brother died and I’m administering his estate.
Nice to hear from you
Glad to hear you're doing jams and sitting in at gigs.
Sorry to hear about your brother.