I'm Sorry that I Unsubscribed

To All those that I Subscribed To

Today I unsubscribed to all my monthly subscriptions. It was a difficult decision because I value your work, and I know how much each subscription means to you. I would dearly love to keep on subscribing to your blogs, but I have had it with Substack, and canceling my monthly subscriptions is the only way I know of making my protest felt.

I used to be a regular Quora user - over 500 followers and 2.7 million content views - but became disenchanted with the platform a couple of years or so back when the questions started becoming more banal and kept repeating. It became apparent that Quora were using the platform to train their AI.

Then looking for an alternative to Quora I started using Substack. It was a bit daunting at first because there were so many Serious and Influential Voices, but I gained confidence over time and a few followers. Substack became my favorite platform, and I spent most of my free time on it. I then started to make paid subscriptions - not so much because my few dollars made much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, but as a mark of appreciation for the high quality of material people published. And the quality was very high - particularly from those who published original material from their professional inside knowledge of the subject matter.

I have long believed that I have to pay for independent news - before the internet I would buy newspapers. Now, much news is available online for free - or at least, a few snippets between the adverts and clickbait. The old adage applies - if you’re getting something for free, then you are the product. Anyway, I do support some selected online journalism with paid subscriptions, because I strongly believe that we must pay if we want independent journalism to survive.

I was also an avid Twitter user - until Elon Musk bought it. And turned it into a white supremacist cess-pit. I then migrated - along with millions of others - to other social media platforms. Many went to BlueSky, and others - myself included - migrated to Mastodon.

A few words about Mastodon, because that platform is really, really different: On the surface Mastodon is like Twitter used to be a decade or two ago. And it has the same vibe - most people are very polite and friendly. However, it must be said that the user interface is somewhat basic. But its underlying structure is radically different, so no one person owns it. That means that no one can buy it. Anyone can set up their own Mastodon server for free. Or apply to open an account on an existing server, usually for free. But there are servers which offer paid accounts, if that suits better. Or start your own server and offer paid accounts to offset running costs. And if the owner of a server that has several thousands of accounts decides to sell it, and the new owner starts messing with censorship or whatever, then migrating to a new server is simple and straightforward, complete with your posts and followers.

Anyway, back to Substack: In 2024 this was my go-to place for news, particularly on American politics, and the presidential elections. Then in January of this year the owners of Main Stream Media started bending the knee to Trump. And a mass migration of journalists found a new home in Substack - they could continue to earn a living with subscriptions. Initially this was great - there was a massive increase in journalists publishing original research.

But then Substack became a victim of its own success: It started promoting heavily paid-subscription accounts and suppressing free accounts. At least, that how it seemed to me. And, by all accounts, to many others too.

And that’s why I canceled all my monthly subscriptions.

But, as I have already stated, I’m happy to pay for original material. As an Engineering Consultant (now retired) I was paid a lot to write reports, opinions and emails. And to read them. So I know the value of writing. But, much as I would like to, I cannot afford to make tens, if not hundreds, of paid monthly subscriptions.

Substack has outgrown its business model. It needs to make paid subscriptions more accessible, and to equally promote free Substack accounts to its followers.

So, once again I regret having cancelled my paid subscription to your Substack - I just felt that I had to explain why.