I admit that I do a lot more doom scrolling than a healthy person should. I enjoy other people’s drama and opinions, and there is no shortage of that on social media, and I’m a little addicted to it. I also like good things too, and that is my excuse for staying. Things like BookTok and BookTube are usually great places to find some good books (though they do seem to all get attached to the same books, so you have to be choosy on who you follow), so at least it’s not all politics and hating on other people and people who want to constantly predict the end of the world.

But one thing I do see a lot of on social media is the farming of longer form content to Substack. Now, I’ve only ever visited Substack twice in my entire life, and I didn’t stick around for very long. I should also be very clear, I have no issue with people making money online. I too have my ways of making money on the content I produce. So, I can’t throw stones in my glass house, or whatever the saying is.

That being said, for some reason, paywalling what are essentially blogs drives me a bit nuts. Maybe because I’ve spent most of this year enjoying the fruits of a more open web with this blog, I really don’t like seeing hurdles in the path of people enjoying content online. A lot of us just spent the entire month of August blogging as much as possible just because. The amount of content that we’d have missed if half the people participating did so on something like Substack is insane and sad to think about. Again, I’m not bashing anyone for wanting to make a living. If this is how you do it, and people are willing to pay, who am I to nay say you? I’m nobody, that’s who.

But personally, I’m never going to have a Substack. If you want to support me on Ko-Fi you can. If you don’t want to, you still get to read whatever I put on this blog. I should admit to some hypocrisy when it comes to my YouTube channel. I do put some exclusive content on Patreon. I’m not sure it’s actually worth anything, and I consider that more of a reward for those who give me money than a draw to ask for people for more. Do I tell people I do it, though? Yes. I like money. So, despite me not ever wanting a Substack, I get it.

I feel like video and audio are different than a blog, however I can’t really explain why I feel that way, which means that it’s probably a bullshit reason. Or maybe I’ve been embedded into the IndieWeb cult, and feel that the open web should be… open.

Maybe what bothers me isn’t the paywall. Maybe it’s just that Substack is in control of that content. They moderate it (or don’t moderate it, depending on who you ask), and they also control who gets to see what. It’s the Twitter paywall all over again. People bitch and moan about censorship online, but then have no problem with giant corporations charging money to get to content they didn’t produce. Would I have less of an issue with this model if the creators were in charge, and were controlling their own paywall and content? I think that’s the case, yes.

So, all this boils down to the idea that I don’t have a problem with paywalls so much as who controls the paywall. Why should a company get a portion of the money people are paying for content you create? The answer is they shouldn’t. But managing all the stuff that Substack and Patreon provide is hard and often times not worth the effort (especially for those just starting out). Another reason why I won’t ever have a Substack. I’m much too lazy to do it on my own, and I don’t want anyone to do it for me either. So, I’ll stick with the Open Web and be happy and righteous, and a little bit smug that my way is the moral way to go. Or whatever.