[tombert]

I don't use Substack [1], but isn't part of the appeal of Substack discoverability?

Like that's part of the reason that a lot of these platforms get popular. Most software engineers could write something to upload, transcode, and host videos in an afternoon or two, but that only gets you 10% of YouTube's value. The thing that keeps YouTube on top is it's hyper-addictive recommendation system.

I assume that Substack offers something like that? Again I don't actually use it so I'm kind of speaking out of my ass.

[1] No one read my blog anyway so there's no pretense of charging for it.

[maxace]

"publish on ur own site, syndicate everywhere" has never been more salient

[theshrike79]

https://indieweb.org/POSSE#COPE

(The whole site is down now, but that's the canonical source for POSSE, or spefically COPE - Create Once Publish Everywhere)

[rchaud]

> but isn't part of the appeal of Substack discoverability?

Discoverability should be happening on non-paid platforms like social media, message boards or channels independent of Substack itself. If customer acquisition is based on your presence on Substack, you will have to stay on it forever, paying whatever they charge, because migrating to a different platform will damage acquisition. Which of course is exactly what Substack's strategy is.