Substack or Bust
A centralized blogging platform has evolved into the 'trifecta for online writers.' What are the consequences of not joining?
www.michaeldean.site
Back again after mulling for a while :)
I was explaining to Lyssa that your migration to Substack is momentous with your role as a trend setter for the indieweb folks, reflected in the comments. But it almost feels as though the world of indieweb has long past, with few remembering e.g. Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere (POSSE) https://indieweb.org/POSSE
I found myself forgetting too. My writing is now scattered across Substack and Medium instead of properly syndicated from my own website. The threat of being de-platformed (or even worse, becoming *undiscoverable*) meant a strong desire to get people onto mailing lists. Which meant promising "exclusive" content, which meant not syndicating...
But perhaps that is a trap I had willingly set myself into? There's technically nothing that prevents me from posting most Substack content onto my own website, barring those I wish to remain paywalled. Since RSS continues to lose to email inboxes still, the "benefit" of subscribing to a Substack can be email notification itself, rather than exclusivity.
The ideal imagery I have in mind is Japanese wood block-print--own the original and the wood block, make lots of reproductions everywhere. Without this ancient technology taking off at the time, the Great Wave off Kanagawa may not be as well-known now.