Tara, thank you for sharing your insights & thoughtful decision process.. it's so disheartening the rate at which platforms morph from what you 'signed up for' into something else. It caused extra decision fatigue & shame when you feel the need to make another change that leaves everyone following your work with the labor of keeping up. It's f'ing exhausted & like you, I've pulled back from most except for my professional presence on my blog (on my website). But in an effort to branch out into some tangential but not directly related business content, I started writing here but I to feel the need to jump ship. Grrrrr... all the best to you. Enjoy the holidays and the time off!
I understand, and you will be missed here. Really appreciate the quality of your thinking and writing. There’s certainly lots of food for thought in this post which taking it into consideration for myself as well.
Thanks as always for your thoughtfulness, Tara. For over a year, I've been steadily, slowly researching and analyzing Substack to see if we'd move Tracking Wonder's Dispatch and content here. I'm always a slow adopter, wary of trends. You were one of my inspirations for moving forward with plans in 2025 :-) - but the last few months have given me pause. #headscratch
I've certainly seen more subscriber growth here—and heard from others who have left that subscriber growth wanes after the move. But I don't think the discovery benefits are keeping up with the continued enshittification of this product. And I'm not sure how much of the growth I've seen is quality growth...
I am also leaving Substack in the new year, and I couldn't BE more excited. It's longform social media, and it will continue to enshittify, in ways we can probably predict.
Bari Weiss isn't as bad as the nazis, but I do think she's become fanatical about her agenda. I like the Churchill quote: "A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject."
Generally, I choose to refrain from using Substack's platform to criticize Substack. So take this more as an accolade for you, Tara, rather than a put-down of the platform: You deserve better than Substack.
Also, you've got me thinking about what to do with the remnants of my own newsletter. I never did buy into the "it's so great here" hype. I don't even understand why people thought there was a "here" here.
I wrote my I’m leaving Substack post last week and published it last night, I heard that Substack did something and I didn’t know what it was but it reminded me I was in the process of leaving. I don’t want my work to live here, I don’t want to find ways to deal with all the things I’m not looking for when it comes to being in community online.
Looking forward to continuing to support your fantastic work. I’m always delighted when I see a new something from you. My brain waters! lol 😂
Thank you for this. I had been considering taking Substack seriously in the new year, now this new move by them is making me reconsider. Glad I’m not the only one who feels like this. :(
What a nice and wise peace of text you've shared here, Tara.
Thank you for that.
I think you've expressed my inner thoughts and probably why I couldn't start anything around here, even having an account since the very beginning... The promises were amazing, though.
Love it! I enjoy your thoughts wherever you choose to be. I actually much prefer the podcast format for your work in particular, since I can listen while I work.
This is so great, Tara. Thank you! I am linking to it in two recent podcast interviews I did with artists about how they use Substack.
Thanks, Alyson! (Nice to see you!)
Tara, thank you for sharing your insights & thoughtful decision process.. it's so disheartening the rate at which platforms morph from what you 'signed up for' into something else. It caused extra decision fatigue & shame when you feel the need to make another change that leaves everyone following your work with the labor of keeping up. It's f'ing exhausted & like you, I've pulled back from most except for my professional presence on my blog (on my website). But in an effort to branch out into some tangential but not directly related business content, I started writing here but I to feel the need to jump ship. Grrrrr... all the best to you. Enjoy the holidays and the time off!
I understand, and you will be missed here. Really appreciate the quality of your thinking and writing. There’s certainly lots of food for thought in this post which taking it into consideration for myself as well.
Thanks as always for your thoughtfulness, Tara. For over a year, I've been steadily, slowly researching and analyzing Substack to see if we'd move Tracking Wonder's Dispatch and content here. I'm always a slow adopter, wary of trends. You were one of my inspirations for moving forward with plans in 2025 :-) - but the last few months have given me pause. #headscratch
I've certainly seen more subscriber growth here—and heard from others who have left that subscriber growth wanes after the move. But I don't think the discovery benefits are keeping up with the continued enshittification of this product. And I'm not sure how much of the growth I've seen is quality growth...
THANK YOU TARA for sharing this. I felt this coming with SUBSTACK a few months back ~
This has been on my mind all morning, thanks for sharing your thoughts here today …
Quite welcome <3
I am also leaving Substack in the new year, and I couldn't BE more excited. It's longform social media, and it will continue to enshittify, in ways we can probably predict.
Bari Weiss isn't as bad as the nazis, but I do think she's become fanatical about her agenda. I like the Churchill quote: "A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject."
Generally, I choose to refrain from using Substack's platform to criticize Substack. So take this more as an accolade for you, Tara, rather than a put-down of the platform: You deserve better than Substack.
Also, you've got me thinking about what to do with the remnants of my own newsletter. I never did buy into the "it's so great here" hype. I don't even understand why people thought there was a "here" here.
I wrote my I’m leaving Substack post last week and published it last night, I heard that Substack did something and I didn’t know what it was but it reminded me I was in the process of leaving. I don’t want my work to live here, I don’t want to find ways to deal with all the things I’m not looking for when it comes to being in community online.
Looking forward to continuing to support your fantastic work. I’m always delighted when I see a new something from you. My brain waters! lol 😂
Thank you for this. I had been considering taking Substack seriously in the new year, now this new move by them is making me reconsider. Glad I’m not the only one who feels like this. :(
I appreciate your honest and deep reflections on topics like this one.
What a nice and wise peace of text you've shared here, Tara.
Thank you for that.
I think you've expressed my inner thoughts and probably why I couldn't start anything around here, even having an account since the very beginning... The promises were amazing, though.
Thank you for sharing this, Tara. I look forward to what’s next (and listening to your podcast more frequently again).
I’m here for this and will follow you to your new thought space, wherever that is. ❤️
Love it! I enjoy your thoughts wherever you choose to be. I actually much prefer the podcast format for your work in particular, since I can listen while I work.
Yes! Thank you for this.