Why I Won’t Be Publishing on Substack
Substack, the publishing platform (Image credit: A2Z AI - stock.adobe.com)
I’ve been watching Substack explode. The publishing platform everyone’s talking about. And it’s easy to see why. There’s a ton of great writing on a wealth of topics, from styling tips to deep political analysis. It’s beautifully laid out. You can curate your own feed, build a following, reach loads of people for free. Engagement seems decent. You can even make money.
With social media engagement dead, Substack is rising above the likes of Meta and X, offering a refreshing hub for those of us tired of doom-scrolling, algorithms, and negativity. Why wouldn’t anyone with half a brain be on there, making the most of it?
But here’s the thing: I’m not going to use it.
Sure, I set up a profile. I even brainstormed a theme for my newsletter. Back to Life was one idea. The Next Chapter, another. I imagined the intimate posts I’d write about my recent ill health and how I’m navigating a fresh lease of life in my late forties. But then it hit me: Isn’t this just another rental space that ultimately wants to make a lot of money?
I’m not virtue-signalling. I’m not naive to Substack’s controversies. And I certainly don’t buy into the idea that it’s some utopia untouched by billionaire interests. (William Finnegan gives us some idea of where this could be heading… history, after all, repeats itself.)
I’m just done with pouring time and effort into platforms I don’t own.
I’ve seen what happens when you rely on these spaces. Twitter, once a joyful community, became a hotbed of extremism. Meta, with its ever-changing rules, squeezed engagement unless you paid up. Instagram? The endless algorithm updates feel like PTSD triggers. LinkedIn, the last beacon of hope, is heading the same way.
I’ve had enough.
I want to own my platforms. My website, newsletter, podcast, magazine, and now a private community—spaces where I call the shots. No world-domination-mad freaks deciding my fate. No sudden algorithm changes tanking my reach. I’m the boss, no one else.
Maybe I’ll regret it. Maybe I’m missing out while Substack is still young, fresh, and “pure”. But I’ve been doing this for 15+ years. I know how the story ends.
Give it a few years. Once growth plateaus, we’ll start seeing pay-to-play features, algorithmic curation, and the same old story—early adopters getting squeezed out as monetisation takes over.
These platforms always eat themselves in the end.