Substack's Thrill is Gone

I started a Substack thinking that it would be a good foray into newsletters. I dreamed of figuring out an editorial strategy and building an audience. But then everyone had the same idea. It's just too easy to publish on the platform.

TV news shows introduce pundits as publishers of Substacks. Even Andrew-accused-sex-trafficker-Tate started a newsletter.

Every Substack has its own name, but make no mistake: The platform's brand is more important than individual newsletter "creators" (editors? what happened to editors?) And the Russian troll bots have begun to publish as well. Juicing the algorithm of the "notes" feature that mimics social media platforms.

I don't know if going back to blogs is the answer, but I do want to be free of the Substackuniverse.