I’ve been writing since about 2020 across a couple of different organizations. In 2022, Substack started to become popular on the scene with the radical idea that the subscribers who follow you remain your owned media. So, instead of gating your email list, instead you pay Substack a fee for administration and good UI. Instead of having to entirely run a jockeystrapped email newsletter using Mailchimp, Stripe, and a couple other Y-combinator startups, you can instead use a strong template and community.
When Elon bought Twitter, in a couple ways long form writing on the platform became worse. Substack expanded to an unmoderated forum where pretty much anyone can write what they like. Taking a strong editorial position in favor of free speech allowed for a decentralized way of spreading interesting information amongst your community.
I’ve remained on WordPress because I like the lo-fi vibe and I’m used to the analytics platform. It’s less addictive because there’s less of a network. Plus, I get to feel smart.
Isadore Johnson's Website 