5 ms·
When will people learn that you can't trust any of these platforms? It's easy to make the argument that the network effects outweigh the risks but I would take
by sosodev 3y ago
When will people learn that you can't trust any of these platforms?
It's easy to make the argument that the network effects outweigh the risks but I would take a stable, smaller income stream over something like this any day.
- coldtea 3y agoWould you take 50 subs, $250/month, and crickets otherwise, over 1000 subs, $5000/month, and frequent new subscriptions?
- mvdtnz 3y agoWhat if your stable income stream was half as big as what you could make on a platform? How about one tenth? Everyone will draw a line somewhere.
- jimbokun 3y agoBut there’s very little lock in. Move your writing to some other platform or host your own blog, and tell your readers where you moved to. Of course, the big question is whether you can keep the Substack email addresses. Otherwise you need to hope your readers see on social media your new home.
- jprete 3y agoAs far as I know Substack doesn't have any real lock-in at all for the author - if you leave you bring everything with you. I think they're primarily bungling it up and not actively trying to enshittify, although I'm not well-placed to judge.
- throwaway420690 3y agoAre you joking? There’s huge lockin… you lose all your audience when you move
- anonylizard 3y agoWell that proves substack is providing value. It proves the platform, that offers a high concentration of high average writing quality blogposts and a reliable trusted platform (For readers), has more value for readers, than some particular writer's writing. This whole paid-blog space didn't even exist before substack, except for a handful like stratchery. So clearly its substack/marketplace that made things possible, not the writers. So writers should examine their egos before they complain this way. Its like the indie game devs who whine about steam, forgetting that before steam, the PC game marketplace was a nuclear wasteland dominated by piracy and MMOs.
- soneca 3y agoI think you can export all your email list any time at Substack
- jprete 3y agohttps://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/6314498343700-How-do-I-export-my-email-list-on-Substack https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/6314498343700... I checked and "statistics" includes email addresses.
- smlavine 3y agoMolly White wrote this neat piece a few months ago about migrating from Substack: https://www.citationneeded.news/substack-to-self-hosted-ghost/ https://www.citationneeded.news/substack-to-self-hosted-ghos...
- poisonborz 3y agoNot even that, a lot of authors have custom domains, switching platforms might not be even noticed by the readers apart from some styling changes.