michael-dean-k/

I originally found Substack compelling as digital land that you own that's connected to a system of roads to help people discover you. It doubled as a personal website and a social media network. Two years ago, I thought it was doing a fine job. A small feature that I really commended was the ability to toggle on/off the pop-up module for people who weren’t subscribed. This boost subscriptions, but if you find the UX annoying and tasteless, you can disable it.

I thought the whole site would evolve with that ethos, but it seems like things are being forced now. It’s as if someone is building a massive billboard on the road in front of your house. A lot of people are resistant to all the video features, and now especially Reels. Their justification is that “it drives creator subscriptions” (their business model).

Why can’t I toggle Reels on/off? It is so centrally located, and I purposely deleted all the other apps on my phone that have vertical video reels because I think they’re toxic. I’d pay Substack $10 to remove this from navigation (X lets me do this if I pay). But the reason we can’t turn it off is because they know it’s addicting, and they’re hoping it can scale the number of paid subscriptions, thus scaling their revenue. I get how this is more aligned than the advertising model, but if this platform is really about creator independence, we need more customization in how we create and consume.

Just make sure you export your subscriber list every month.