"I'm on an island. And I think Substack built it."

I started noticing it a few months ago.

Same writers in my feed. Same takes on the same topics. No new voices breaking through. No friction, no disagreement—just my bubble, perfectly curated, feeding itself.

Then I realized: I'm creating this too. My 300 subscribers? Mostly people who think like me, read like me, care about what I care about. The algorithm gives me what I already want. So I keep giving them what they already want.

It's cozy. It's also a trap.

Here's what I'm feeling: I don't want to write for an island. I want to break the glass. I want my ideas to reach people who don't follow me yet, people who'd disagree with me, people outside this little world.

But the algorithm isn't built for that. It's built for this—for bubbles that feed themselves.

So I'm asking: Is this really writing? Or is it just talking to ourselves?

What does your feed look like? Are you stuck on an island too? Help