How Substack’s App Made Me Consider the Value of Writers
The founders of Substack announced the release of their mobile app through a blog post.
In the post, the founders expounded on the benefits of the app. I personally haven’t used Substack, so what they said was lost on me. However, what I found more telling in the announcement was the section that describes the state of writers and how the app fits in the “big picture”.
Here’s what they said:
“We started Substack because we believe that what you read matters, and that great writing is valuable. Great writing influences how you think and shapes how you see the world. It can change a policy, save lives, and start a movement. The cultural value of writing has always been clear, but in recent years writers have been given the impression that their work has little economic value.”
Setting aside the “economic value” aspect, the paragraph describes the value of writers and how they can shape the thinking of the masses. That in itself is a priceless skill. But is that how writers are valued? Not really. Again, I’m not referring to the financial value but the intrinsic value that is afforded to the writer.
I once heard a person say that back in the day writers were of much value. People like editors and the like were held in high esteem. But today, he said, any Tom, Dick, and Harry is a writer (he was talking about content writers, but the sentiment applies across the board).
The post goes on to say how the internet and advertising behemoths like Google and Facebook have stripped writers of “financial dignity”.
The “Engagement” Game
“As media businesses became more and more anemic, writers were relegated to content-production roles and playing attention games on social media, where “engagement” is prized above all else, including quality and truth.”
Ah, the game of attention-seeking and engagement. A necessary evil in today’s internet age perhaps, but still cheapening words and writers in my opinion.
The Substack founders admit “that these problems can’t be solved with a tweak to an algorithm or a just-so regulation. Instead, the entire system needs to change”. And they believe that their product can help. With 1 million paid subscribers, they may be doing some good work.
But for me, this Substack blog post feels like a lightbulb moment. I never considered what today’s requirements for writers were doing to us. How it’s potentially cheapening the work, rendering us a shadow of those who worked in the profession before.
Maybe we ought to value ourselves much higher than we currently do. The internet-age portrays a writer’s job as “easy” and perhaps relegates us to mere puppets of marketing gimmicks.
What do you think after reading this?
