I tried Substack. It was fine, I suppose. But truth be told, I failed to find any compelling reason why it stood out from platforms like Medium.
Back in the day, Medium was a welcoming space where folks shared their technical insights and more. However, if you visit it now, you might notice a disheartening transformation. It's become a cluttered space, resembling spam-filled sites like Quora or even Google's over-optimized front page.
They seem desperate for revenue, drowning the site in SEO tricks and gating most publications behind a paywall. It's frustrating to be lured in by promising articles only to hit a dead end behind a payment prompt.
Now, I don't mean to be harsh on Medium, but it's clear to me that they've outgrown their prime and are now scrambling for every penny before potentially fading into obscurity or being swallowed by a faceless conglomerate, much like Vox or Tumblr.
One aspect that deeply concerns me is the fate of the independent writers who wrote content on Medium. All their efforts have gone to vain. They have to start from scratch on a new platform.
But let's be honest, Substack won't be exempt from the chase for cash forever [1][2]. When that day comes, all the hard work of writers will vanish alongside it. Sure, you can notify your subscribers about the move, but a lot people like to directly visit the blog instead of subscribing.
But... Substack emails your newsletters directly to the readers and provides the option to export your email list right??. I'm sure these will the axed as soon as profitability becomes an issue since they provide a nice lock in.
Hence, I've taken control by self-hosting my content. No more worries about paywalls or unexpected demands. Best of all, I can tinker with the design and layouts as I wish. I still maintain my cherished list of subscribers, albeit with a little more manual effort.
Thanks for Reading!!