The Things that Annoy Me about Substack, and Why I'll Probably Still Use It (For Now)
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I've only been using Substack for a few weeks now. I've been using it as a means of getting out my science fiction series of books that I've been writing in my spare time. But one of the things that's soul crushing is the fact that it feels like you have no visibility over there in the slightest.
And then you got these notes. Boy, let me tell you about these notes! These notes are annoying as all get out!
But if you're reading this, you probably know all about how annoying they are. Well, let me tell you something.
I don't mind the social media aspect to them. Not at all.
See, the problem with them is you have to keep using them as a means of "networking." But I'm an introvert that sits around in the dark, writing tall tales all the time! I don't have the patience for "networking!" I have a story to tend to! I can't be tending to other people's ego!
A lot of people say that I am emotionally unavailable. My response to them is, "Yeah. So was every other artist who was worth their weight in gold!" I even gave a name for these types! I call these individuals Obsessive Visionaries.
People like Steve Jobs! People like Hayao Miyazaki, the guy who founded Studio Ghibli! I'll even throw in Stanley Kubrick. These visionaries were far worse than I've ever been! They ignored their own families and made the people who worked under them cry because they were so hell-bent on their craft!
I'm not saying to turn into those guys. It's not healthy to be that obsessive about what you do! But what I am saying is that I totally understand that type of mentality and I believe a space is needed for those types to do whatever it is that they need to do. And it's not like their obsessions haven't churned up things that are beautiful or innovative. They most certainly have!
Yeah, but unless you already have a social network that allows you to be that much of an asshole, then there's not much you can do. You're just yelling into the void of nothingness that is the Substack notes. Or the X platform. So you got to go to other places to get your audience.
But X has it's own share of problems. They have an article section on their platform if case you aren't aware. But nobody is going to use that, let's be fair. And the few times I did click on an X article, it turned out to be for completely scammy reasons. There are some things about it that are decent, like the community notes and all that. But the platform is geared towards discourse.
And even though I do like the discourse, I realize also that it's a complete waste of time, trying to argue with people. We're at a point in time right now where people are going to stay in their little bubbles of influence come hell or high water! So now the majority of interactions on the platform usually resort to petty name-calling and the like.
The weird thing is I don't hate that aspect of it. But you always have sit back and go, "But how does this serve me? How does this serve my mission?" All I want is to get my story out. That's it.
Going back to Substack, the one thing that really annoys me is the gatekeeping. I like that you can support writers on that platform financially, but the mechanism that's used in doing so is far too intrusive! And most people don't even use it anyway! They won't even think twice when subscribing! They'll go straight to to the free model, because everyone does that!
I've done it! It's just not a great way of going about things! If anything, it's a bit of a turn off.
You see what I'd rather do is have a link to Buy Me A Coffee. Or just post a bitcoin address.
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http://buymeacoffee.com/robotkinz
BTC: 3AjaZVtEXLyXyyduxxFHwx1mTbesFh8yGU
ETH: 0xdD18CF0b2bC233DE588AA29E349e4037Da9217B86
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There. That's all you need! Not this naggy subscription model that no one ever uses!
I do have it set up over there as well in the super rare off chance that somebody will actually be a paid subscriber! But I'm not holding my breath.
Even worse though is the gatekeeping that happens in the comments section! You can't even comment on an article if you're not a PAID SUBSCRIBER?
Excuse me! Is this "connecting with your audience?"
No! It's not!
I swear to you, that really is the worst thing about Substack. Yes, you have your never-ending trove of self-help gurus and people who say things just to get an emotional reaction out of people. Those things are just about as egregious. But gatekeeping your comments rubs me wrong in a way that's hard to describe. There is nothing more I hate than creators that just want never-ending praise for their own work. If you keep that up, you start to become delusional about who you really are.
You end up becoming your own Barton Fink.
I'd rather stay grounded. I'd rather stay as true to myself and to my own voice as possible.
And I DON'T need any algorithm steering this ship! I don't need it dictating what I write or how little I write. True creatives have no need for this nonsense.
Now. With all this being said, I may keep my Substack running, despite all this. And there's a few reasons for this.
For one, your Substack home page is still a great thing to keep around. On my Substack, I have certain sections I've laid out. I've been treating it as it's very own web page more than anything. This whole notes business feels like something that got crudely stapled on to the whole thing at the last second! It's not conductive to my writing. If anything, it's an absolute nuisance that I have to resort to using them all the time! I enjoy long form writing! That's why I look at this platform and go, "Yeah! I can totally write a thousand words! No problem! Heck, I can do it in my sleep!"
I think going forward, I'll use both this platform in conjunction with my Substack page. How that will be implemented, I'm not sure as of yet. But I love the simplicity of Tuhat! And also, I'm early enough that there isn't a cavalcade of authors, all vying for attention on here! Smaller platforms are certainly the way to go and I can see that as clear as day!
I think I'll keep uploading my stories here. I'll do it over there as well, but this really is the better way to go. Maybe I'll just post a link to this Tuhat posts in my Substack. Who knows?
Anyway! I've reached my 1000 words and then some. I'll leave all the relevant links down below and thank you very much for reading. I look forward to continuing to use Tuhat.