IS SUBSTACK PRETENTIOUS?
and a list of some of my favorite writers who I discovered without the algorithm
Remember when Emily Sundberg published the machine in the garden. and everyone lost their shit because she shaded listicle-writing, calling it easy “traffic-bait” content that “performs well.” At the time, I noticed the proliferation of listicles too: lists were everywhere. 10 classic books actually worth your time. 6 trends to buy this summer. 15 things I’ve done to improve my life.
I don’t know if people took her too seriously or what, but now it feels like “traffic-bait” has shifted from lists to hot take opinion pieces. While I’m sure the list structure still exists (I mean, I published one myself last September on movies), I personally see less of it. Maybe this is just my algorithm, but it also makes sense that this content can flood a home feed: anything that’s ‘controversial’ has more engagement traction, not only because opinionated people leave comments but because they tend to restack these essays too.1
Anyways, I’m not the only one who’s noticed a content shift.
Helena Aeberli is a writer who publishes twenty-first century demoniac. As a note, I think she’s wonderful… super talented, great researcher, etc. Recently, she posted about taking a step back from Substack. She expanded on her decision below:
I somewhat agree, especially because I came to Substack for similar reasons to Helena. And over the past several months, I’ve noticed a gradual shift in my own Substack usage. I remember, even as late as earlier this year, I would have no issue finding new and interesting articles to read via my home feed. I would actually find too many and have to bookmark them for later! I now find myself avoiding that tab completely and going straight to my subscription box. Similar to Helena, my feed is mostly notes, or posts on the same 3-5 heated topics, or Pinterest-adjacent photo slides.
To be fair, I’ve made it my job to participate in discourse and so I have a below-average tolerance for reading it when I’m “off-hours,” and also, I’m sure the algorithm recognizes the kind of stuff I write about and peddles me content based on that (celebrity, culture, fashion trends, digital detoxing, etc.). (How do I tell it I’m actually only interested in reading about interior design and Broadway gossip?)
Whatever the case, I’m not reading too much on here anymore. I hesitate to say that Substack is in its flop era, because statistically, new people join every day. Charli XCX and Lizzo now have blogs here too. But I think for a small demographic of people who joined the platform in its early days for a very specific reason, it’s become fatiguing to stay. For some, this fatigue has spiraled into outright denigration of the platform as a whole.
I put out a video essay on productivity the other day, in which I received this comment:
The reply thread below:
