My Notes-Feed showed me, that someone liked this post:
My first thoughts were: Oh god, please no! It’s happening, they’re coming.
The ones with the tips and tricks on “how to” fuck up your mind with trying to understand an algorithm on any platform.
Why so fast? Why is Substack going down now? I’m only here for a few weeks, why? The ads will come, the marketers will come, the A.I. content will blow up. Fake comments, fake engagement, fake newsletters…
This was my ADHD hitting hart.
So I read the article. Always with a thought of: Why going viral? What is the point of five minutes of fame? And is this article not a second try to go viral?
At the end all my questions were answered and I was surprised. It even ended with a thought of mine:
Trying to go viral and obsessing over checking my phone for new
likes and comments is stressful — Not fun
- Landon Poburan
The post of him that got viral was about Substack being different. And that reminded me of my newsletter, not so long ago:
Is Substack the better Instagram for photographers?
Of course not. Instagram has basically turned into a marketplace, and on top of that, it’s a bad copy of TikTok. It'll end up like Facebook did when all the influencers can’t sell their discount codes anymore. On Substack, though, you can build a community that’s genuinely interested in what you’re doing. Maybe this is just my initial excitement talking…
I was (still am) so happy about finding Substack that I wrote a newsletter about how good it is, ON MY VACATION — except for Google Maps, I turn all Apps off on vacation!
I’m pretty sure there are bots, AI-generated content, and fake engagement here too, but honestly, I haven’t noticed any of it. My feed shows me exactly what I want to see, and the recommendations are actually pretty spot on. These days, I even leave it on Home instead of Follow because you can discover some genuinely interesting stuff that way.
No ads, no one trying to shove their shitty presets down my throat. Real replies, and friendly, open people. This platform is fuckin’ fun! Excuse my French.
I don’t know if it’s the same for you, but I don’t feel pressured to post here at all. If I don’t feel like it or don’t have the time for 3-4 days, and then I post something, my subscribers and others still see it. And if it gets restacked, the post spreads even more.
It’s fun and actually interesting to discover and read new articles—you’re not just doom scrolling through the feed. Speaking of the feed: With Notes, you’ve got a space where you can post casually, share photos, or whatever, and then for bigger articles or projects, there’s the newsletter. If, like me, you love writing and photography, Substack feels like the best of both worlds.
Just want to post a single photo today? Throw it in Notes. Got a whole story to go with a set of photos? Send it out in the newsletter.
Of course, there are people here running businesses, selling courses, hacks, and lifestyles. But it all seems to coexist pretty well. Like I said, my feed actually shows me what I want to see, and that hasn’t been the case on Instagram for ages.
I’ve pretty much given up on Instagram. Now, I only post photos there—no captions. I honestly don’t think anyone even reads them anymore, or that more than a third of my followers actually see my posts. Every now and then, I’ll write something to go with the photos, and I just get the usual emoji replies.
It feels like being part of some massive ad campaign where everyone’s yelling over each other, trying to push their stuff, while you’re just there trying to share something genuine and lasting.
On Substack, it’s just fun. I think that’s the word: fun.
How are you finding it here? Are you new or have you been around for a while? What’s changed, and where do you think it’s all heading?
Thanks for reading this far!
You name it. It's just fun. I've been on Substack for almost a year with a pause of a few months but my subscribers were still here when I came back. And I really enjoy reading and seeing all these different posts and notes and comments. Fun.
I'm glad you've joined the photography community here. I think it's quite lovely.