There’s a bit of sour truth in this. I don’t think it’s Substack’s fault, but the era in which quality content could grow an audience through organic means is over. TikTok is more of a symptom than a driver, but the Internet in this Big Platform, enshittifed era is just as much a wasteland as TV was in the “idiot box” age.

Ten years ago, if the powers that be wanted to put you to the big sleep, they had to MOC you. Now, they don’t have to do anything because unless you have the funds and time to build a platform in today’s low-effort, low-attention world, they know you will be ignored.