I would quote every single word of this. Like yes, when I passively use tiktok I am pretty sure braincells are shriveling and I am embarassed how often viral phrases come out of my mouth, but at the same time, I have learned so much from sourdough to knitting mittens to global politics. Like you said, if used right, social media can be incredibly powerful tool. And so glad you mentioned substack superiority complex too (if I ever come off like that please clock me immediately). Guilty as charged for the oldest daughter narrative but honestly it's time to move on from thought daughter and fig tree posts. I am so glad you "woke up grumpy"
KYLEE I love seeing you in my comments because we might just be the same person. Social media is SUCH a good tool, I love it, but there's definitely some weird vibes on Substack hahaha (and you do NOT come off like that!) Thank you so much for reading <333333
I feel the "form an opinion first" function the most slippery slope personally. With so much opinion surrounding everywhere it is a muscle memory I need to flex and double down on more. Great piece!
You've said all the right things, truly. I think people often want to justify their actions and cut themselves out of the majority or 'mainstream' when they act as if Substack is the key to intellectualism. Honestly, lately I've just enjoyed learning new things: I borrowed a book about ancient Sumerian mythology from the university library, and I've spent hours taking down notes in a little notebook - you can't tell that from my Substack. Many people on here who don't have such a complex page are probably consuming more knowledge than others.
I honestly think that this form of social media should be used to share thoughts and knowledge, the way an excited kid would. No one should be fighting over who's smarter.
Freya this was succcchhhhh an interesting read. I also find it ironic that some people don't see substack as a social media when one of the main things I use it for is socialising! You have considered this subject so carefully and articulated it beautifully, I'm always blown away by your talent
So, so, so good Freya!!! I deleted TikTok last year because I was the problem. Like you say, the algorithm is malleable and I was not taking control of it. Adding to your "read something out of your genre" - I picked up a couple of magazines the other day on a whim. One of them was Women's Health because I was interested in one of the stories on the cover; I've never read it before and actually found it quite difficult to read outside of certain topics and interests. That is one good thing about physical media, it can make it more difficult to "skip" something that we're not into because it's more natural to read every single page.
What I do really love about Substack is the differing opinions and deep-dives about topics I would have never even thought about - like this one, for example. I've read such intriguing takes and opinions on here that I may not necessarily agree with, but because it's the written word I find myself reading along and properly considering it instead of simply scrolling on.
Also - Big yes to Blackfish (my favourite documentary) and I Who Have Never Known Men. I read the book for book club last year and it remains the best discussion I've ever had there. It's SUCH a good read.
Ugh this was so needed right now. Whenever I see those posts about how great Substack is and how it's not social media I kind of just think in my head "But I came here for attention" & idk maybe that's disgusting but I feel like we all came here to share our work with people. We have influencers. And we're all secretly hoping for some paid subscribers. It's a nicer place than most but we all want to grow and it is an algorithm that we're trying to outsmart. When I think of it this way I have to actively remind myself to take a huge step back, and write for the sake of writing. But I think all of us here have gone through a "write for the sake of growing" phase
I would quote every single word of this. Like yes, when I passively use tiktok I am pretty sure braincells are shriveling and I am embarassed how often viral phrases come out of my mouth, but at the same time, I have learned so much from sourdough to knitting mittens to global politics. Like you said, if used right, social media can be incredibly powerful tool. And so glad you mentioned substack superiority complex too (if I ever come off like that please clock me immediately). Guilty as charged for the oldest daughter narrative but honestly it's time to move on from thought daughter and fig tree posts. I am so glad you "woke up grumpy"
KYLEE I love seeing you in my comments because we might just be the same person. Social media is SUCH a good tool, I love it, but there's definitely some weird vibes on Substack hahaha (and you do NOT come off like that!) Thank you so much for reading <333333
I feel the "form an opinion first" function the most slippery slope personally. With so much opinion surrounding everywhere it is a muscle memory I need to flex and double down on more. Great piece!
That's so true!! It's so hard to not be immediately bombarded by an opinion online and accidentally absorb it. Thank you so much for reading!!
Witch 🧹! I was talking about exactly this with all my friends these days. OMG, I love it.
NO WAY!! I love that 🫶🏻🫶🏻 I’d love to know your thoughts! ✨
Love love love this piece !
Thank you so much Hannah!!
Ahh thank you for the mention! This is such a beautiful post and SO true,
Thank you Emilie!! <3
Oh my gosh FREYA!! Thank you thank you!! I feel so honored!
YES
You've said all the right things, truly. I think people often want to justify their actions and cut themselves out of the majority or 'mainstream' when they act as if Substack is the key to intellectualism. Honestly, lately I've just enjoyed learning new things: I borrowed a book about ancient Sumerian mythology from the university library, and I've spent hours taking down notes in a little notebook - you can't tell that from my Substack. Many people on here who don't have such a complex page are probably consuming more knowledge than others.
I honestly think that this form of social media should be used to share thoughts and knowledge, the way an excited kid would. No one should be fighting over who's smarter.
Freya this was succcchhhhh an interesting read. I also find it ironic that some people don't see substack as a social media when one of the main things I use it for is socialising! You have considered this subject so carefully and articulated it beautifully, I'm always blown away by your talent
Freya!! I agree sm w all of this and thank you so much for including me in this 🫶🏾💗💗💗
freya wth🥺🥺 literally so honoured to be on the recs list what! thank you 🙏 & you’ve given me some great other recs too so excited to read those<3
So, so, so good Freya!!! I deleted TikTok last year because I was the problem. Like you say, the algorithm is malleable and I was not taking control of it. Adding to your "read something out of your genre" - I picked up a couple of magazines the other day on a whim. One of them was Women's Health because I was interested in one of the stories on the cover; I've never read it before and actually found it quite difficult to read outside of certain topics and interests. That is one good thing about physical media, it can make it more difficult to "skip" something that we're not into because it's more natural to read every single page.
What I do really love about Substack is the differing opinions and deep-dives about topics I would have never even thought about - like this one, for example. I've read such intriguing takes and opinions on here that I may not necessarily agree with, but because it's the written word I find myself reading along and properly considering it instead of simply scrolling on.
Also - Big yes to Blackfish (my favourite documentary) and I Who Have Never Known Men. I read the book for book club last year and it remains the best discussion I've ever had there. It's SUCH a good read.
if you're into writing, the Mythcreants blog and podcast is fantastic. you can learn a lot from them—they've been editing for over 10 years now
Ugh this was so needed right now. Whenever I see those posts about how great Substack is and how it's not social media I kind of just think in my head "But I came here for attention" & idk maybe that's disgusting but I feel like we all came here to share our work with people. We have influencers. And we're all secretly hoping for some paid subscribers. It's a nicer place than most but we all want to grow and it is an algorithm that we're trying to outsmart. When I think of it this way I have to actively remind myself to take a huge step back, and write for the sake of writing. But I think all of us here have gone through a "write for the sake of growing" phase
I LOVE YOU PRINCESS DIVA
OH MY GOD