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I find it ironic that there’s a desperate plea for the indie web from a Substack blog.
by fny 2y ago
I find it ironic that there’s a desperate plea for the indie web from a Substack blog.
- croes 2y agoTo get more visibility?
- CSSer 2y agoI think the irony works either way.
- CharlieDigital 2y agoIf OP was going for visibility by posting it HN, Reddit, etc. then does it matter if it was Substack or his own blog or even the Shepherd site?
- johnnyanmac 2y agoTechnically, yes. If the thesis is "Google search is inaccurate and overrun with SEO optimized slop and ads", them using a blog utilizing that same SEO optimization feels a bit ironic. Feeding the beast you want to change.
- bwb 2y agoI don't quite understand, I still want Google traffic, they have a monopoly. Nothing has changed there.
- bwb 2y agoThat is a private blog, so I don't care if anyone sees it. I just wanted something I updated every 2 to 3 weeks with my frustrations, wins, and so on as I build Shepherd.com. I was on Twitter's free email thing but they shut down and imported to Substack. I just didn't want to pay for anything as the only person who reads it is me and my mom. It has 100 readers on it, as its just for me really.
- MichaelZuo 2y agoIt’s more than ironic, it’s self-undermining…
- bwb 2y agoHow so? It is where I keep a small blog for myself about building Shepherd.com. It has barely any readers and keeps me sane and having fun.
- MichaelZuo 2y agoBecause every additional article posted on the non ‘indie web’ is literally reducing the relative credibility/importance/etc. of the ‘indie web’ by a tiny bit… which is unnoticeable for just one, but when you add up millions…
- bwb 2y agoI don't understand, Substack is the indie web as well. It is a fantastic platform for the indie web to use. Can you explain in more detail what you are saying?
- MichaelZuo 2y agoBecause Substack is not part of the indie web anymore in 2024… organizations that grow in size eventually cross that threshold. Otherwise Facebook would still be part of the ‘indie web’…
- bwb 2y agoSubstack is a tool that the indie web uses :) If Nike has a Substack that is not the indie web. If I use Substack that is. Don't get hung up on tools, focus on who is using it to speak and create.
- MichaelZuo 2y agoEver heard of ‘the medium is the message’?
- bwb 2y agoWhy? Substack is a great platform and I love them. I also use Beehiiv for our mailing lists with authors/readers.
- CatWChainsaw 2y agoSubstack is great. Right now. If you weren't born yesterday, or remember that "enshittification" describes a process (great for users, then great for businesses, then great for the middleman), then you already know that it's just a matter of time before Substack becomes Shitstack.
- bwb 2y agoAnything can get bad, that is why you have to keep working/fighting to keep it good. Notion is still great, Google docs is still great, etc. Just because you got burned once doesn't mean you go full Amish.
- CatWChainsaw 2y agoI don't know what the burned once understatement or the Amish overstatement is about but if you're turning a blind eye to the past twenty years, it's pretty obvious that fighting accomplishes little to nothing and it's plenty of things, not "once".
- bwb 2y agoI think you are getting stuck in ideological purity instead of creator mode :). Use the tools available as they are awesome, sure some might not work out long term and that is life.
- CatWChainsaw 2y agoI think you are getting stuck in dreamland instead of reality. Someone makes something good, and then someone who wants to make a buck ruins it. You are not constantly creating, you are bailing water out of a boat that has holes drilled in it constantly, and then you lose and then you die.