Is Substack awful?
No, stop whining.
Lots of people are writing about how Substack is going to the bad and content on here is becoming repetitive dross. I won’t link, you’ve seen the pieces.
Well, if you think Notes is the enshitification of Substack and that the algorithm is secretly leading to lots of generic content, etc etc, consider the following.
Most people’s marginal taste is homogenous in some way.
Many people are not high in openness.
Normal distribution applies to content.
Growth of excellence is part of the same system that grows mediocrity.
Are you seriously assigning zero explanatory power to revealed preference?
Demand curves slope downwards.
It was true historically that lots of content was repetitive, even Elizabethan sonnets.
You can change your setttings, mute people, and choose not to read stuff.
I laughed out loud over your comment on Elizabethan sonnets. Well played.
I’m feeling a bit left out. I subscribe to the substacks of people I like and don’t really see anything else.