They pulled me back in
I
was clipping along quite happily here a couple of months ago, enjoying the tiny internet, and then it happened."Hey girl, how about some algorithm..." Substack and Patreon batted their eyelashes at me.
Partly, I was frustrated because I couldn't, for the life of me, get Facebook to scrape my pages here, so I couldn't share blog posts. So when they flirted, I went running back.
Lesson learned. I never left Patreon because I have paid subscribers there, but I did delete everything at Substack. Now I'm ten articles back in and I'm feeling the regret. My feed is full of "500 ways to get 10,000 subs by Friday" along with "Where are the wild women who run barefoot in the rain and like drinking tea while watching the sun rise? You're my people!"
And of course, it's all AI garbage.
In the real world, you are a reflection of the people you interact with the most. I believe the same to be true of internet platforms. When I'm here, it never occurs to me to open Gemini or ChatGPT or write something because it's Monday and we need to get at least three posts up this week. That doesn't happen here.
It took about three days, and suddenly there I was, knocking on Gemini's door, "Hey, can you help me write a Substack post about Raj Yog in Vedic numerology?" I unpublished it last night along with several others that were either AI-assisted or simply written because I felt like I had to.
I started a 100% written by me series about Subtle Aromatherapy, and I'm seriously considering moving it here.
People are mad as hell over there because of the built-in AI checker that Substack rolled out last week. I will be honest, I am not particularly concerned if someone else uses AI. If that's you, and you're happy, fill your boots. What I don't like is that it monocultures us. Everyone publishes the same posts. Everyone's written voice is the same.
And the softening/flattening - you know, the internet version of putting rubber corners on the coffee table so no one bangs their knee. It's ok to be offended. It's ok to embellish for written effect - or be bitey and bitchy. AI takes that away from people - by training them - to be soft, non-offensive, dumbed down, less of themselves. Ugh.
So yes, the folks who pumped out Tarot readings, astrology reports, political hot takes, and whimsical life advice three or four times per day, never mind per week, are upset that they're being outed to their arseloads of subscribers and they're losing people left, right, and centre. The persnickety creator notices within the AI-checker that allows users to "share their process" read like fourteen-year-olds behind the shed trying to hide a lit cigarette behind their back. Smoke plumes up in an upward trail of curlicues behind their head as they do their best to talk circles around you, insisting that this isn't what it looks like.
Who knows, maybe Substack will go back to being a place where I can read good writing like it was a couple of years ago. Probably not, but this time I won't delete my publication, and lose the good posts that I wrote.
I'm killing time in the clinic cafeteria while I wait for my doctor's appointment. It's time to venture upstairs and get the poking and prodding over with.
That's all I've got for now! As you were, everyone!