Aidan Simon
Substack’s home page, waiting for readers to discover new content.
In the diverse depths of the Internet, there is no shortage of people who seem to be voicing their thoughts to the public like a street preacher with the world’s largest megaphone. In this age of countless social media shots, weird AI-generated essays, and disorganized venues posting serious writing for the media newbie, getting noticed in the crowd seems more complex and difficult.
Enter Substack, the new and uncluttered way for authors and podcasters to independently publish and monetize their content on the web. On the site, you own everything you make and your readers can easily fund your work, and it’s starting to catch on with players big and small alike. According to their manifesto:
“We are developing an all-in-one service that pays writers by reaching audiences who value them. Our tools include easy-to-use editing software that can handle the simultaneous publication of articles and newsletters; a payment solution that makes subscriptions intuitive and manageable for both publishers and readers; sharing features that allow stories to find large audiences outside of paywalls; and design templates so that publishers can create beautiful reading experiences.”
For the aspiring high school writer, Substack is easier to set up than a personal website because they don’t need a server or learn how to write a webpage from scratch. The site also has a decent audience, so one could gain more exposure faster than writing for local publications or websites, and the lack of strong editorial controls means there is an opportunity for students to cover what matters most to them in a way that which appeals to their peers more than larger outlets.
The site operates on a traditional subscription model, where posts can be viewed by people paying a certain monthly amount. Contributions can also be viewed free of charge if the author so wishes. Other features like live chats and comments allow the author to build a community and support structure around their work.
For the potential high school reader, Substack acts as a one-stop shop to view the authors or the type of content they want to see without having to sift through unwanted content provided by algorithms or search search engines for specific authors’ work.
To tell some history, Substack was created in 2017 by Chris Best, Jairaj Sethi, and Hamish McKenzie so that they and others could independently control their own content. The creators of the platform tried to fix some problems that traditional media sites faced, such as: B. Primarily advertiser funding and content provided by algorithms.
If anyone wants to check it out, the website is substack.com
