Returning to Substack... again

I started a Substack publication in 2022, which I poured my heart and soul into. I published an article weekly for nearly two years and grew it to just shy of 400 subscribers. At the time, it felt like one of my most significant achievements.

As things grew, I tried to streamline some processes and separate some of my work from my writing projects. An element of this was switching my email address to have a personal one and one for projects. While doing this, I lost my entire Substack account and all my data and publications, including my subscribers.

I didn’t back up my subscriber list. Substack wasn’t much help either; I couldn’t even speak to a real person, just bots. It was my fault, but I still felt betrayed by the platform. How could such a simple administrative change create such a nightmare? Imagine if I’d had thousands of subscribers and was making a living from the platform.

I was hurt and turned my back on Substack. I looked for countless other ways to pursue my writing projects. I tried Medium for a while, but it didn’t feel right. I also tried independent blogging platforms, which I still highly regard, and Ghost, another independent newsletter platform.

I wrote a daily newsletter on Ghost. I also published it on my independent blog. It worked, but there were too many moving parts. Frankly, it took the fun out of writing. Not only were these platforms costly, but they also created friction.

For all its flaws, Substack deserves credit for making it incredibly easy to write and publish your work. Better yet, it’s free and accessible to anyone.

Substack allows for as few moving parts as possible. It’s all in one place. I can create a separate publication while using my profile to share general musings on life.

So, I’m here again after turning my back on Substack and trying all the alternatives. The only thing is that it feels a lot different now.

Notes have taken over.

And what makes Substack so appealing could be its biggest pitfall now: anyone can create an account and brand themselves as a writer.

The latest digital flex is to “have a Substack.” because it’s so niche and indy.

The “viral” notes appearing on my feed distract me from why I returned here. My solution is to mute accounts using the platform for social status rather than share a valuable message. I fear for the direction the platform is heading, but as long as I can write and publish my work for free, I don’t mind too much.

Don’t get me wrong; everyone deserves a voice, and I’m not against that. However, I want my time on the platform to be intentional.

Doomscrolling through the notes of all the same stereotypical notes ain’t the one.

My other strategy has been to delete the app from my phone completely.

Nothing valuable comes from having it on there—just more doom scrolling.

So yeah, I’m back.

We’ll see how long for this time…