Blogpost #3

Examining Substack:

1. The Substack algorithm seems to only favor popularity, disregarding the finer controls that TikTok or even YouTube employ to best tailor their sites to the viewer. Instead, Substack is relatively open, and the reader chooses whether there are particular genres they are more interested in viewing. Similarly it is the responsibility of the author to promote their own work. Unlike Twitter/X and Instagram, the author doesn't signal topic relevancy with the use of hashtags, instead opting to include genre tags and carefully worded titles. That being said, there are additional amenities a person could pay for to enhance their experience and add an element of the personal.

2. I wondered if the hands-off posture held up in reality, or if there was more going on behind the scenes. My research question in sum was: "Can I attract writers similar to myself to read my posts? And will I see an increase in the relevancy of posts I'm shown when I start using the site more?

3. I believe that the success of the Substack format is on its microcosm, echo chamber design. Since it is rather difficult to actually engage with novel posts, a lot of writing is directly shared from a reader to people they know and from the author to subscribers who get emails upon new posts. Therefore I decided to attempt two 'experiments'. I wrote a piece that I did not promote at all, and I wrote a piece that I linked the emails of my family and friends to. Obviously the promoted one would get more views initially, but I wondered how many people that I did not know I could get to follow my page, to test if the algorithm would favor a sudden influx of readers to the site. I set up the Substack as authentically as possible, attempting to create a believability for new readers so they would not be able to tell that I was faking interest in promoting my work. And then I waited.

4. So far, the interaction I have gotten has been from people that I know, however I am letting this play out over the week anyway. It would certainly prove my hypothesis that these Substack accounts are relatively self-generated and sustained, at least in the beginning. I feel as though their weak algorithm increases the freedom for writers to be seen by anyone, and not shunted into a specific group. At the same time, the deluge of traffic on the site buries all writers until their only community are those that have been passed along with the digital equivalent of word-of-mouth.

5. I will attempt to apply this to my own portfolio in some ways. Unlike Substack where there is a monetary element after a certain subscriber quota, my Portfolio is as useful viewed by 10 people as it is 100. Therefore I will make my name as a writer the aspect of the portfolio that is lasting, and sharable. I will advertise myself, against my better judgements, and do so through the familial channels that I promoted my Substack on.

To view the progress of my experimental Substack you can find it at https://eilidhkeuss.substack.com. ;)