THROW OFF YOUR SUBSTACK CHAINS!
DON'T CONFINE YOUR CREATIONS TO THE INBOX!
ESCAPE THE ALGORITHMIC PRISON!
The web is an infinite canvas for all kinds of media.
Websites can be anything and anything can be on a website.
It's never been easier to create and share something unique.
But instead everyone makes these identical Substack blogs.
Sam Kriss blurs the lines of fiction like Borges, but with Pynchonian wit and flair.
Delia Cai is a finger on the beating heart of New York's media scene.
Blackbird Spyplane has a take on anything you can wear and write some of the most get-stuck-in-your-head lines anywhere.
Anne Helen Petersen has built a flourishing community based on reflection of individual experiences in society.
All of these people are astonishingly talented and creative. They each have unique audiences, goals, and approaches to their work. And all of their creations look effectively the same.
(Not Anne Helen Petersen anymore — she moved to Patreon, so now her posts look like everyone else's over there instead)
Different fonts, different colors, different logos, yes; but all trapped within the same structure. The web becomes an endless suburban McMansion development, where every house is painted a different color, but they're all built on one of five floor plans.
They do it, of course, to build an audience. And there's no shame in using standard tools to make your work easier to distribute, consume, share, and monetize.
But you don't have to! Don't start a Substack! Stop using templates! Express yourself in ways only you can! Create something unique and new to the world!
A website can be anything, so make it interesting!
Recommended reading
Internet Playgrounds and mmm.page
A website to destroy all websites
17776 by Jon Bois (for inspiration)