Writing like yours — thoughtful and carefully crafted — takes time, and that doesn’t go unnoticed. Substack is a better, richer place because you share your work here. Thanks, Gunnar. I’m glad you’re here.
Grateful for you Gunnar. Engagement algorithms do not capture the immeasurable depth of certain writing that stirs, moves and helps to work through the mental cramps of the human condition. Your writing does that.
Reading your pieces brings me such joy. I marvel at the ways that you are able to weave together seemingly unrelated topics into a way that both educates and inspires me. And there is always some humor and/or some great footnotes to make me smile! I'm glad you're here!
The world is a chaotic place full of chaotic people. Substack as a platform can be a double-edged sword in this regard. Your ability to prevail through the storm of nonsense is admirable; it's an important display of strength. We need more people like you. Thank you for creating an environment based in thoughtful reason rather than chaos; an environment where thoughtful people can thrive.
I really enjoyed reading your take on this and for what it's worth, this is the kind of writing and thinking we need on Substack.
Having said that, I can also understand how it must be at times underwhelming and overwhelming to try and build an audience that cares about what we want to communicate (whatever that is) and how futile that seems at times when topical political and popular culture commentary, in particular US centric, tends to perform better and seems to be amplified by the platform more so than more niche subjects.
In fact, it's a common complaint how US centric Substack is when so many people aren't based there and many of us write in English but aren't native speakers and would love to connect with our people. But like you say, it's precisely the people we meet and engage with which truly make it worth it, to want to write that new post, click send and engage in a conversation with them.
I agree, it's hard to escape the US-biased view in politics or culture - makes sense because of their outsized influence (and substack is a US company, so that's understandably their biggest lice of market pie), but to what extent do US topics shape the overall network of connections? I'd be really interested in seeing a network analysis of newsletters. Who connects to who? How over/underrepresented are certain groups or nationalities?
I'm glad you're here, Gunnar. I have similar feelings about Substack--there's a lot of not so great stuff, but I'm glad I've been able to connect with some great people including yourself and carve out a bit of space here
Writing like yours — thoughtful and carefully crafted — takes time, and that doesn’t go unnoticed. Substack is a better, richer place because you share your work here. Thanks, Gunnar. I’m glad you’re here.
Oh, thank you, Suzi! I appreciate that so much.
Grateful for you Gunnar. Engagement algorithms do not capture the immeasurable depth of certain writing that stirs, moves and helps to work through the mental cramps of the human condition. Your writing does that.
Thank you, Ben! I really appreciate that.
Reading your pieces brings me such joy. I marvel at the ways that you are able to weave together seemingly unrelated topics into a way that both educates and inspires me. And there is always some humor and/or some great footnotes to make me smile! I'm glad you're here!
Oh, thank you so much, Carrie.
*puppy face
The world is a chaotic place full of chaotic people. Substack as a platform can be a double-edged sword in this regard. Your ability to prevail through the storm of nonsense is admirable; it's an important display of strength. We need more people like you. Thank you for creating an environment based in thoughtful reason rather than chaos; an environment where thoughtful people can thrive.
I appreciate that, Michael!
I really enjoyed reading your take on this and for what it's worth, this is the kind of writing and thinking we need on Substack.
Having said that, I can also understand how it must be at times underwhelming and overwhelming to try and build an audience that cares about what we want to communicate (whatever that is) and how futile that seems at times when topical political and popular culture commentary, in particular US centric, tends to perform better and seems to be amplified by the platform more so than more niche subjects.
In fact, it's a common complaint how US centric Substack is when so many people aren't based there and many of us write in English but aren't native speakers and would love to connect with our people. But like you say, it's precisely the people we meet and engage with which truly make it worth it, to want to write that new post, click send and engage in a conversation with them.
Thank you, Cristina.
I agree, it's hard to escape the US-biased view in politics or culture - makes sense because of their outsized influence (and substack is a US company, so that's understandably their biggest lice of market pie), but to what extent do US topics shape the overall network of connections? I'd be really interested in seeing a network analysis of newsletters. Who connects to who? How over/underrepresented are certain groups or nationalities?
I'm glad you're here, Gunnar. I have similar feelings about Substack--there's a lot of not so great stuff, but I'm glad I've been able to connect with some great people including yourself and carve out a bit of space here
Exactly that.
Thanks, Tommy.