Get Off Substack!

I had planned to discuss a different topic for the second part of the Bluterian Handbook, but the news prompted a last-minute change of plans.

While it has been known for quite a while among people who pay attention to the latest internet developments, not enough people in the general population have been aware of it, and many of those who are have not taken it seriously until now. However, now that The Guardian has written about it, hopefully it will be on more people's radars. And today, I want to do my part to publicize it.

It's interesting how many platforms have emerged in the wake of the Twitter takeover, as more and more people realize that they shouldn't entrust most of their online lives to tech companies that don't have their best interests at heart.

Most of these "new" platforms (some are actually new, some others have existed for a while and it's the Twitter debacle that gave them more prominence) are interesting and worth knowing about, or even using. I'll talk more about this soon. However, some other platforms have taken advantage of the situation to grow big, even though they're not much more recommendable than the platforms whose problems they pretend to fix.

Among them, Substack!

A few years ago, Substack quickly became popular among journalists and online writers. However, it turns out that its success was not entirely "organic." The company recruited prominent journalists and bloggers to increase its visibility.

That was borderline shady, but not a major concern. Substack was an enticing platform for many, from famous people with large audiences to random bloggers who loved writing but did it less and less because of social media.

If you're one of my earliest subscribers, you might recall that this newsletter's first iteration was on Substack.

Then something happened. The more popular Substack became, the more changes they made to transform it into a full social platform. They added micro-blogging and a recommendation system that promoted other Substack users, and more. The first red flag of enshittification quickly started to be raised: locking users into a closed environment that becomes harder and harder to leave as time goes by.

Next, more and more people started talking about issues with the moderation of their microblogging, or rather, the lack thereof, and how fishy that seemed.

Finally, the Nazi problem arose!

In short, Substack knew that more and more Nazis were joining their platform, but the platform had no intention of blocking or shutting down their accounts. In other words, Substack was becoming a Nazi Bar, and its owners were fine with that.

I left Substack because of this, but way too many people ignored the problem. Some were not aware of it, and some preferred to look the other way.

Today's Guardian article revealed that the problem is even worse. Not only are Nazis on Substack not deplatformed, but Substack also actively promotes them and is happy to make money from them. Hopefully, the article will raise awareness of the problem and encourage those who turn a blind eye to be less hypocritical.

Here is the article, by the way:

Revealed: How Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters

Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism

The GuardianGeraldine McKelvie

How does this concern you?

If you write on Substack, I advise you to leave the platform as soon as possible for a better one (see a few paragraphs below).

If you don't write on Substack but subscribe to some newsletters there, unsubscribing and explaining why to their authors could be beneficial.

If there are some newsletters that you can't stop reading, follow them in an RSS reader instead. If you're not familiar with RSS, it's time to learn about it. It's one of the oldest and best web inventions. Maybe one day, I'll write more about it.

Ultimately, the goal is to close your Substack account, whether you're a writer or a reader. Even though I stopped writing there two or three years ago, I still had an inactive account. Well, it's gone now.

How to replace Substack?

If you write on Substack, or... if you don't write anywhere, you should start writing somewhere else!

Before I mention some alternatives to Substack, I'll reiterate my suggestion that you start writing if you aren't yet!

What made the internet a great place a couple of decades ago, before a handful of companies took it over, was that most of its content was created by people like us. And if we want the internet to become that beautiful, hopeful place again—against all the tech billionaires and generative AI ruining it—we need more people like us to write and share what we like and do.

So, how can you write a blog or newsletter online without using Substack?

Here are a few suggestions:

Ghost

Well, Ghost is the platform that I'm using for this current newsletter. It is pretty awesome and the best out there in my opinion.

Pros:

• It's easy to use.
• It's both a blog and a newsletter.
• It's easy to monetize.
• It's open-source.
• You're in total control of your data.
• It's part of the Fediverse.

Cons:

• It's not free. One reason Substack is attracting so many people is that it's free to start using. However, once you start making money, they take 10% of your earnings.
  Ghost, on the other hand, doesn't take a single Euro-cent, but you need to host your site somewhere. You basically have two options. You can host it directly on Ghost's servers (an option called Ghost Pro), or you can host it with a web host like you would with any other website. Alternatively, you can host it yourself if you know how.
• In my opinion, that's the only downside to Ghost. But, you see, I've been paying to host my Wordpress sites for more than a decade, and while it gave me great pleasure, it also cost me a lot of money. On the other hand, this newsletter has earned me more money than it has cost me in its first year. Granted, I started with an existing readership, but so will you if you're on Substack now (it's easy to transfer everything from Substack to Ghost).
  And sometimes, all you need to do is kindly ask your readers if they would like to sponsor you to help pay the bills. That's something I'm doing right now, by the way. As expected, some of my paying subscribers are leaving now that the 2025 Setouchi Triennale has ended, and I need to find new subscribers to keep this endeavor going for as long as possible. If you're reading this and have a few Euros to spare, I would greatly appreciate it, and I will put them to good use.

WordPress

I mentioned WordPress a few lines above. And of course, it's one of the most popular ways to put your content online.

Pros:

• It's the world's most popular website platform, powering more than a third of all websites.
• Because of its popularity, content, advice, tutorials, and more are widely available.
• It's open source.
• It's highly customizable with an immense number of available themes and plugins.
• It can connect to the Fediverse.

Cons:

• Similar to Ghost, although it's technically free, you still need to pay for web hosting because you have to host your website somewhere. There are hundreds of web hosts that specialize in WordPress, and you can easily find an affordable one. Another option is to host your site on WordPress.com, but that means your data will be stored there and you won't always be in control of them. Also, customization options are more limited in the "dot com" version of WordPress.
• It requires some technical knowledge. If you don't have much, it can be a little overwhelming at first, but it's not that difficult. I felt that way when I started, but I quickly got used to it as I learned the ropes. (Also, see above: Tutorials and help are everywhere online.)
• It's "high maintenance." It's one of the main reasons I've been slowly moving away from WordPress. As I have quite a few sites, I sometimes find myself spending more time taking care of them — updating things and fine-tuning them — than writing on them. With Ghost, I just write, and it's so refreshing!
• First and foremost, it's a website and blog platform. Although there are newsletter and monetization options, they are not included by default.

A Few More Options:

I'm not as familiar with these platforms, but I've heard many good things about them. I don't want to say anything inaccurate, so I won't provide many details. You'll have to do some digging yourselves.

Disclaimer: If you're familiar with these platforms and notice any inaccuracies in the following lines, please let me know, and I'll correct them.

ButtonDown

ButtonDown is somewhat similar to Ghost, although while Ghost is both a blog and a newsletter, I think ButtonDown is primarily a newsletter. However, it also has "online archives," which I suppose are comparable to a blog. Note that you can start for free. I could be wrong, but I don't believe you can self-host.

WriteFreely

WriteFreely is a minimalist blog that's extremely easy to use, making it ideal for beginners. It can be hosted in a variety of places (or you can self-host, though that requires some expertise). It's part of the Fediverse. I don't believe it offers newsletter options.

Micro Blog

Micro.Blog is also an easy-to-use blogging platform. It has a variety of pricing options, starting at USD 1 per month, which I think is the cheapest around. It has newsletter options, but not with the cheapest pricing. It is part of the Fediverse and also uses the AT protocol (Bluesky's protocol), and you can cross-post to many other platforms using the POSSE approach to publishing online. However, there is only one host: the company itself. While the company is very decent, this setup is always somewhat risky and not "enshittification-proof".

Tumblr

One of the "elders" of the social web is still around, and it's a great platform for blogging and sharing. I never really used Tumblr (I created an account and tried it out, but I didn't stick with it. That was more than 15 years ago), but if you're interested, know that it's still there and usable in the 2020s.

All right, I think that's all for today.

If you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate.

Also, if you find this article useful, please, share it with your friends and contacts (especially if they're Substack users), and consider subscribing if you haven't yet (or becoming a paying subscriber if you can afford it).

Thanks for reading.

Best,

David