A Few Thoughts on Going Forward

Why I've moved to Substack

I hate social media. If you’re reading this, you probably just thought something along the lines of “join the club, buddy,” but I really do hate it. I hate the way it reduces complex thoughts and ideas into pithy one-liners. I hate the way it rewards conflict and creates barriers to common understanding, the way it enables the worst human impulses by placing them behind a mask of anonymity. I hate the constant scrounging for engagement that turns us all into weird dopamine monkeys always clawing for that next fix, that handful of likes that might validate, or fail to validate, whatever we might think is worthwhile or interesting at any given moment.

But I gave it a fair shot. About a decade ago, I realized that I needed to be more public about my writing if I wanted any chance of having someone actually read it. So I built up a following on Twitter, back when it was Twitter, before Elon took a problematic but useful thing and turned it into a more problematic and useless thing. When that earth became scorched, I moved on to Bluesky and Threads, but haven’t managed to build my following back up. And I haven’t been trying, frankly. The dopamine monkey is firmly in charge on those platforms, and when it shows itself it always feels like I’m on some random street corner in a hat and vest, dancing to music for coins. That’s not why I became a writer. I became a writer to connect with other people through my stories and my ideas, and those platforms aren’t much of a place for either.

Which brings me to this place. Substack has its own issues, for sure, but there’s room to breathe here, and I can make my little corner of it a safe space for my friends and readers. I can post actual thoughts and not just snarky witticisms that often aren’t as clever as I think they are. It’s a blog. It’s a journal. It’s a way to connect. It’s closer to what I’ve always wanted my public presence to be. Or at least, that’s the hope.

So, what does this all mean? It means that, from this point on, Substack will be the central focus of my online life. I’m setting a goal to post at least once a week, to censor myself less, and explore a wider range of topics, from the current political shitshow to the things that fascinate me and keep me afloat. If it’s something of substance, this will be the first place I post it. I’ll still keep a presence on those other platforms. The dopamine monkey carries a rusty knife, after all, and he still holds it to my throat from time to time. But those platforms will be the tail to Substack’s dog.

If you’re just finding me for the first time, welcome. If you’re here because you subscribed to my old Mailchimp newsletter, thanks for sticking with me. If all goes well, you’ll be hearing from me more often, and not just when I have a piece of news or something to promote. And, if I’m lucky, the conversation will flow both ways, so feel free to comment on and share anything I post, and to send me a note when you find something that might be of mutual interest. Will it all work out the way I’m expecting? Probably not, but with time and a little luck, it might just evolve into something meaningful and altogether unexpected.

Let’s do this!