Remember the excitement of discovering a well-written newsletter? That niche corner of the internet where someone shared passions, insights, or curated content with a devoted audience? There was a certain charm to that world – a sense of finding something special.
Then Substack happened. And it was great, don’t get me wrong. It streamlined newsletter creation, gave writers an easy way to get paid, and readers a place to find them. Win-win-win, right?
Maybe not.
The Rise of the Newsletter Army
Suddenly, it seemed like everyone had a newsletter. Topics got saturated. Inboxes were overflowing. That feeling of discovering some hidden gem online started to fade. For readers, the sheer volume became overwhelming. And for writers, the competition to carve out a loyal audience intensified tenfold.
Substack’s Growth loop
That is, every consumer is potentially a creator and that’s some powerful network effect that Substack has. Unlike other platforms like Ghost or WordPress, users who subscribe to a Substack newsletter are also marketed the platform.
Reminds me of the Blogger boom
This whole situation reminds me a bit of the blog explosion that happened years ago when blogspot and WordPress started. Suddenly, everyone could have a voice online, which was incredible. But it also meant filtering through a lot of content to find the truly worthwhile stuff.
Newsletters, though, feel different.
Unlike a blog that’s open to the entire web, a newsletter has that special feel, like being invited into someone’s personal space. That intimacy is part of what made newsletters appealing in the first place.
Lost in the Crowd
As I scroll through my feed these days, many newsletters have started to blend together. Same design. Same layout.
Sure, there are exceptional ones, the diamonds still shining through. But there’s also a lot of the “me too” stuff.
It raises a question – did the ease and accessibility Substack provides create a landscape where quantity sometimes overshadows quality?
RIP Curiosity. Hello Commerce
There was a time when discovering a new newsletter felt like stumbling across a quirky, hand-painted sign for a hole-in-the-wall cafe. You felt a little adventurous, excited by the unknown.
These days, with the sheer volume, I find myself missing that sense of the unexpected. The newsletters that stop me mid-scroll often aren’t the biggest, most polished ones, but the ones with a unique voice, a surprising topic, or an unconventional format.
And all these attributes seem to be vanishing. All I see is too many (paid) newsletters, adding very little value (IMO, some tweets are way more meaningful than many long-form newsletters).
And just a fyi: I have 2 newsletters on substack (my personal and BigIdeas).
This isn’t an anti-Substack rant…
…it’s more a pondering about the shifting landscape. Substack’s been a massive positive for many writers. But as readers and writers, maybe it’s worth asking ourselves:
- Writers: How can you make your newsletter stand out in the noise?
- Readers: How do you sift through and truly make the most of the newsletter world, now it’s so vast?
Let’s not let “newsletter fatigue” take the fun out of this space entirely.
What are your thoughts out there in internet land?
(P.S. – Substack folks, I’d really love your input on this!)
(some parts of it, written with the help of AI/image credit)
