When was the last time you got invited to chat with a developer at Facebook, or Instagram, or TikTok? Yeah, me neither.
The big platforms that we rely on as creators — and as readers / viewers / listeners — are mysterious black boxes, concealing how they work. Increasingly, Meta and X have become antagonistic partners that we’ve had to content with in order to reach our audiences.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
A couple of weeks ago I was invited by
to join him for a chat with , a developer at the newsletter/video/audio/social platform Substack. Ben has worked on all sorts of features, including the semi-automated categorisation of published material on the platform.I don’t normally get too deep into the weeds on this stuff, but it’s especially relevant for us fiction writers due to that perennial challenge: how to find readers. Since the invention of the printing press there have been more books to choose from than any single person can get through in their lifetime.
The internet hasn’t helped in that regard. 🙄
Cutting through the noise
It’s easier than ever to publish our work, but that makes it all the harder to find audiences. There’s simply so much stuff, what chance do any of us have at being found by the right readers?
That’s why Ben’s work is so fascinating. A key part of his role has been figuring out ways for readers on Substack to find material they’ll enjoy. It’s a work in progress, clearly, and he talks candidly about the many remaining challenges and unanswered questions.
I use Substack to power this newsletter, so this discussion was directly pertinent to my writing. Regardless of what you use, though, Ben’s insights speak to the wider complications around curation, algorithms and how we all navigate an increasingly busy and complex online world.
The most reassuring aspect of all this is that the team at Substack talk about this stuff at all. And not just the founders and top dogs — there seems to be a culture of encouraging all staff to interact openly with creators and readers.
Meta and X were always terrible partners because it was such a one-way interaction. It was a repeating cycle of rug pulls, which makes it impossible for creators to build a foundation. Let’s not kid ourselves — Substack could very easily succumb to enshittification, but for now it’s incredibly useful to understand the motivations of the developers and designers there. Agree or disagree with their decisions, but at least we know the direction of travel.
Big thanks also to everyone who showed up to watch the conversation live. There were about 90 people in attendance, which was lovely. I’m hoping to do more of them throughout 2025, so stay tuned.
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