@wdlindsy Unsure. Critical mass? Monetizability? Convenient one-stop clearinghouse for "longform writing"? I guess from my outsider perspective all I see is yet another platform capitalism, which is usually a non-event to me, but with this one it seems like all the smart/interesting people (people similar to the bloggers I loved most when blogging was still a thing) are simply flocking to it, and frankly, I somewhat resent its success. #Substack

@wdlindsy Why is Substack so popular anyway?

@david_chisnall @macberg @MartyFouts @DJGummikuh @GossiTheDog

Boosts are indeed advertising, which is why when stuff is seriously morally reprehensible such as Nazi shit we go out of our way to avoid signal boosting it.

In less sinister cases I think most of us are constantly amplifying (boosting) signal and attenuating (muting) noise, and the effects are synergistic, and more effective as a "relevance" filter than any "algorithm."

@macberg @MartyFouts @DJGummikuh @GossiTheDog

I call it self promotion. I engage in a bit of self promotion here, although the things I promote don't involve money changing hands. Fedi accounts that only exist to promote a substack account are a bit of a pet pet peeve, and I tend not to boost, but I coexist without complaint with advertising that is not of a "pay to play" nature.

Even in the commercial web, I don't ad block, but I do tracker block (with Privacy Badge) and of course I get accused of ad blocking by the ad blocker blockers. THAT business model makes me vomit.