Substack, Social Media, and Energetic Labor

Lately there's been a lot of chatter about how

is changing and becoming more like social media. There was the addition of Notes last year, and now short-form video is available. It's definitely becoming noisier.

On one side, you have people lamenting that this is no longer a quiet space for writing. On the other, you have people celebrating the expansion, and reminding us that you can interact with the platform how you see fit.

Talking with

in the note below, I realized something. I think part of why some folks are feeling unhappy with the changes to Substack is because it requires us to put in more energetic labor to set our own boundaries and protect our peace.

Yes, we can ignore Notes, change our settings so the app opens on Inbox, turn off DMs, or just use via desktop (and I appreciate that the platform allows us those variations). We have agency, something that's lacking on other social media sites. But I think what makes people frustrated is that these changes put the onus of setting those boundaries back on us. We have to make the decisions of how to interact with this space. We have to do the energetic labor to maintain those boundaries.

And, whether or not you like the changes, that is tiring. It's something many of us were relieved to not have to do on Substack, after years of trying to set up energetic boundaries on other platforms. It's not right or wrong, but I think it's part of why some folks feel disheartened by the changes to this platform. It's not the changes themselves, it's the fact that those changes force us to output energy in a way we didn't want to.

Personally, I still love it here and intend to have this be my main outlet for creative sharing. But I do also find myself more drained by the app than I was before. I used to open it and just browse through articles in my inbox. Even though I have my settings adjusted so that I see my inbox first, it's still so easy to get sucked into an endless scroll on Notes. I'm still defining what my boundaries are, and I know that it'll be my responsibility to maintain them.

What do you think? Do you find the need to set boundaries with Substack (or other platforms) a form of energetic labor? I'm curious how others feel about this! ✨