This is a continuation of my essay About Substack, posted June 2, 2024.
Substack, headquartered in San Francisco, was founded in 2017 but I only became aware of this new publishing platform years later. As a Canadian, I find it meaningful that the CEO, Chris Best, is Canadian, a graduate of the University of Waterloo. The executive team of Substack is primarily international but the institutional investors and board members are American, and potentially problematic, so far so good.
I became aware of Substack in 2023 and immediately liked it.
Recently a Substack publication, Code Like A Girl, asked some interesting questions which prompted me to reflect on my experience.
I soon realized that I wanted to be a writer on Substack, not just a reader. I carved out an obscure niche for myself with Metamodern Wannabes. I explained what I was trying to do on the About page and in my first article, Hanzi.
Clear to me from the start were two thoughts I held in my mind. I was a career accountant, a numbers guy. I knew I was not a great writer and I made no effort to improve. And I was completely unconcerned with growth, reflected in the fact that today I have only 142 subscribers. I was writing mostly for myself and to my future self, as therapy and as a means of clarifying and recording my own thinking.
I am not very creative nor original. My articles were mostly inspired by the thinking of other people and Substack gave me an endless supply of content to riff on. To date, I have published 353 articles.
I was also not seeking engagement with my readers and little emerged beyond a few comments mostly by my friends, my trusted others.
In answer to point A raised by Code Like A Girl, I launched two more publications on Substack.
In May, 2024, I launched UNKNOWINGS. I had some big ideas and big hopes and dreams, probably beyond my capacity to actualize. These are explained in About, About Zephyr and We Launch! While this initiative did not amount to much, I have no regrets as I try to hold my intentions lightly. We are all complex beings and, imo, one Substack publication can only reveal one layer, one flavour.
Three months ago I launched a third publication, Final Waive Feminism, explained in About and What Is Final Waive Feminism? Personally, I have been experiencing a big enough shift to justify a new Substack with different intentions. My interest in metamodernism is becoming secondary to my interest in feminism.
Also, from the start, I wanted FWF to be a collective effort, working with friends, my trusted others. Code Like A Girl, led by Dinah Davis, a Canadian, was one of my inspirations. It is one of the best examples on Substack of a group effort that I have found with over seventy writers who I labeled as being Cyber Feminists. I also hope for significant growth in the number of subscribers for FWF, for impact, fulfilling the intention to elevate the voices of women. Perhaps a cyber feminist will volunteer to advise me.
In response to point B, I have only recently been learning about organizing Substack publications with sections. I see some benefits and have created sections for FWF. Again, Code Like A Girl has been a useful model. Together with my co-creators, we are discussing adding more sections, more options for both readers and writers.
Points C and D focus on profiles and yes, I also created a new profile when I launched FWF. My two profiles are @johnstokdijk538 and @johnstokdijk1. I wanted a new profile picture sending a different signal and I wanted two different experiences as a reader. The Substack platform does not facilitate multiple profiles and technical challenges quickly emerged. To mitigate these on my mobile phone where I do most of my reading, I used a different browser for each profile. I follow very different people with each profile and I am pleasantly surprised by how different my experience is. Conflicts and frustrations remain but so far benefits exceed costs.
My biggest frustration with Substack is a compliment. It is too easy to find good content, far beyond my capacity to absorb. In 2024 I wrote about being Overwhelmed in the SPACE. Today, in spite of my intentions to narrow my focus, I continue to struggle with information overload.
I captured another aspect of my Substack experience with An Open Letter to Robert M. Hamburger.
What does the future hold for my Substack experience?
On August 7, 2026 I intend to launch a fourth publication. Hint: it will reflect yet another shift and reveal another flavour of whom I aspire to become in the final chapter of my life. That is all I will say for now.