Notes
I'm probably going to regret this when I wake up tomorrow, but here I go.
First, I was the one who supposedly said this: "Someone replied to me on Notes by saying that it wasn’t fair to those who did not have the bandwidth to publish very often to have to compete with more established writers. They thought they should be given some kind of leg up by the platform, so they could receive the same attention and growth."
I later explained that Summer misunderstood me. I explained here: substack.com/profile/970391-elizabeth-t…
"I think you’re misunderstanding me here. I’m talking about the platform design more than anything else. (Maybe cos I work in tech so I tend to view things in algorithms, UI/UX and content design terms.)
And I came to Substack as a reader first, before I wrote a word, and I’ve always been frustrated when it comes to finding new writers. I don’t really want to only read famous or popular writers, I like to find new talent that are still growing. I want to journey with them. That’s the kind of writers I want to read. It’s very difficult due to the way the platform is designed.
I’m talking about this.
About entitlement. Sure, I don’t think a writer is entitled to an audience. I’ve been a professional writer for 20 years. Just not in the creative field, and I know the work involved."
I reclarified my thoughts here when Simon posted his thoughts about it: substack.com/@elizabethtai/note/c-44439…
"Currently, Substacks are organized via recommendations and number of subscribers or popularity.
A simple change to the UI could help readers like me find new Substacks and writers to follow: A simple timeline menu, for example, or a “just updated” timeline. When the playing ground is level, everyone has a chance, beginners and pros alike.
RIght now, I literally have to dive into Notes or Office Hours comment threads just to find stacks of new writers. As a reader, it’s a BIG pain point for me as I indicated in a previous post of mine."
All this started because I responded to Summer's earlier note just to explain why some writers are feeling anxiety about publishing on Substack these days. You can see the comments in this post to see where I'm coming from: elizabethtai.substack.com/p/what-i-lear…
Imagine my surprise when when Summer highlighted my comment here, without tagging me at that, and then spoke about ego, entitlement, "leg up". I was merely trying to explain what some folks here were experiencing. I didn't expect condescending advice I didn't ask for. To see the circle jerk of checkmarked writers saying what fantastic advice this is ...
All of this is making me sick.
I don't understand this attitude at all, especially among published writers.
I'm not the only one talking about this. Read the following:
So are we all entitled and jealous noob writers then?
Mind you, I'm a published writer in my country, a writer of 20+ years and even had one of my stories optioned for a film. But I chose to be very low profile because I just prefer to do that.
I really do not like this divide I'm seeing between writers who "have made it" and "have not made it". Before the checkmarks, before the stats, I loved Substack because I felt like we were on an even playing field.
Now we have Elite Capture.
PS: She deleted my comment. Oh well.
