I Don't Like Substack Any More

And it Doesn't Matter

When I was first introduced to Substack I was ecstatic! I had finally found a place to be creative and quietly build my confidence as a writer and storyteller. Now, I dread opening the app. I woke up today thinking about the reasons why.

Social Media is a Planet-Wide Mental Asylum

Before coming to Substack, I had already veered away from Facebook which was the only social media I kept up with. And I only scrolled Facebook for the humor. I’ve never used TikTok, Twitter (or X), or any of the others.

Social media transformed quickly from a convenient way to communicate with family and friends into a place where everyone shares every single thought all the time to the point of human beings losing touch with reality. People base their importance on the number of views, clicks or likes and if the numbers aren’t adequate or comments dare to contradict the importance of an idea, the poster somehow feels the need to defend themselves to complete strangers. Then depression sets in.

Unfortunately, Substack is becoming the same mire of depression as any other social media platform. I scrolled notes and best sellers this morning. I saw nothing beautiful or creative. I saw political posts, posts about AI creating child pornography, posts about trans-people and child abusers and posts about how no matter how humanity tries to save itself, we are all doomed to be miserable forever. I tried searching for more creative options until I became frustrated and put my phone away. Most of the content here radiates negative energy, and the world already has too much negative energy.

Negative energy begats negative energy. The stuff multiplies faster than tribbles. Whether we realize it or not, our personal energy flows from us into the words we write and then transfers to anyone that reads them. If the subject is something the reader already has negative feelings about, the negativity multiplies exponentially. The reader comments something negative which is then read by the author and anyone else browsing the comments. Someone else comments and the cycle continues. Forever.

Competition: Who has the bigger boo-boo?

The competitive energy on Substack is overwhelming. Writers and creaters appear to feel the need to mimic one another in hopes of getting the most attention, because attention attracts more subscribers. Let’s pump up those numbers, Baby! I am a nobody on Substack, or anywhere else for that matter, and I have seen tiny pieces of my own writing style and ideas in posts of those who have many, many more followers and subscribers. I’ve also seen creators with larger audiences mimic each other. Not word-for-word of course, but enough to know the idea is the same and the changes are a gimmick.

Anyone that has ever worked with children, especially younger kids, pre-school through maybe 2nd grade, has witnessed this phenomena more than once. One kid scrapes his knee on the playground. He gets a cuddle from the teacher and a band-aid. Another kid realizes that the first kid got attention from having a boo-boo, so this kid shows the teacher the faint and mostly healed remnants of a scratch on his elbow from falling in his yard over the weekend. Kid number three insists the bruise on her shin from falling off her bicycle two days ago is much worse than the measly scratches on the two boys. Kid number four then points to the scar on his chin where he got stitches last year from sliding across the hardwood floor in socks and slamming into a coffee table. Each story is similar in that a child was injured, but the competition is now on! Everyone wants the teacher’s attention and sympathy. Who has the worst boo-boo?

I see this on substack when multiple writers tackle the same subject hoping to add just a little more, just the right words to grab a little more attention. And since negativity gets more attention than anything positive, they try to put a more negative spin on the subject than the previous author did.

No freakin’ wonder we all feel insane.

Life Isn’t Meant to be Lived Online

Human beings were never meant to spend all of their time inside and communicate with each other solely on screens. We NEED nature to survive. Our physical and mental health thrive when we connect with anything outside. We need to spend more time watching the clouds instead of reading the random thoughts of strangers. Being in nature calms our nervous system and fosters creativity. Sing to the squirrells. Draw the flowers. Listen to the flowing water. Live life. Real life. Not the virtual life we have created for ourselves online. Plant a vegetable or a flower that will bloom. Do something substantial and creative with your hands. Feel the grass and Earth on your feet. Watch the honeybees pollenate their little asses off.

We need to interact with other human beings without the screens. It is very important to find people you can connect with locally and be physically present when communicating. Build a support system. Smile at a stranger. Buy local produce and become familiar with the source of your food. Community is important.

A Challenge to Make a Change

I challenge you, anyone who reads this, to make a change. Think of anything that makes you feel happy and positive and write about it. Dig deep into your mind and find an original idea about this positive and happy subject without searching to see if anyone else has written about it first. If you aren’t a writer or creator online then stop reading the negativity and get yourself outside. Think of something that brings you joy and go DO IT!

Send some positive energy out into the world, even if it doesn’t get the same attention as the negativity, at first. Unfortunately, right now people seem to gorge themselves on negativity and ignore the positive. We have to train our minds to do the opposite. Focus on anything positive.

I’ll start:

Today, I decided to turn our old camper into an office. I’m sitting at the table in the camper now, writing this post. This is a place where I can focus without distractions. It’s quiet. I hear birds and occasionally the faint “moo” of a cow, but that’s it. There’s no TV or radio and if I choose, I can come back here with only a notebook and pencil. No phone. No internet. I can be disconnected for a little while.

Being constantly connected to the rest of the world feeds negativity with the expectation of instant gratification. Once a post has been made, or a message has been sent, we expect instant replies and attention and become frustrated when our expectations aren’t met. Disconnect. Learn to feed your own soul instead of waiting for acknowledgement and affirmation from strangers on the internet.

Right now, this may be a ratty old camper, but it brings me joy to know that I can make it into something more. A sanctuary where my thoughts and creativity can flow freely.

If we work together to build a community of positivity, the negativity will wane by default.

I challenge myself. I challenge you. Let’s make this change here on Substack and in our personal lives by disconnecting and not caring what others think, say or do.