I think you’ve hit on something key, Chrissy. Substack has become its own performative form of community, with a sanitized, reductive set of safe topics and cliched phrases that establish membership in that community of thought. This was done as a backlash to the rage-baiting and trolling of other platforms, which is understandable, but has become its form of ideological prison. Your writing is remarkable in that it refuses to conform to this orthodoxy and offers a form of expression that feels radically free and personal. I’m really looking forward to what you write in 2026.
If it’s any consolation, you are one of the strongest voices I read here in terms of having a unique perspective and tone, so, for the time being, I wouldn’t include your work in that great “homogenization.”
On another note, I think if every Substack essayist was forbidden from using words like “gentle,” “tender,” “ache,” “soft,” etc etc maybe that would help a little? Maybe we’re frustrated with different writers.
My central issue with how things are going is how all-or-nothing some of these essays can be; how a new album can be “the end of the American straight woman” or some random tweet signals “the downfall of the American community” fill in the blank as you must. Essays were never meant to be so all-encompassing. The best stay small, in a particular, and often peculiar moment, else there wouldn’t be something worth saying. And something can be worth saying if it doesn’t get tacked to something so huge. It’s a try, not a total remedy. Right?
To your point if I see one more essay refer to “the quiet grief of…” I will simply perish. We need to stop with this. Even if it’s the most accurate description of something, the words “gentle” “tender” “ache” “quiet grief” etc etc NEED to be stopped. They’ve lost all meaning and I’m cringing physically!!
I’m not trying to self promote but this inspired me to write a chaotic poem where I deliberately say “quiet ache” like a million times in the middle of absolutely vulgar and bizarre nonsense. Thanks or sorry I did that or something.
If it helps, inserting the word ‘quiet’ especially is a common AI trope. LLMs add quiet in all over the place and it’s one of the easiest ways to tell that someone has used AI. So it might actually be AI and people that use it as a crutch too much that we’re all mad at. I guess that tracks.
I definitely agree with the “all or nothing” approach these essays seem to take. Not just on Substack either but all over social media. Nothing can be good and bad, nothing can be discussed in a nuanced way. (I do hate the word Nuance now though because I always hear “nuance this” and “context that.”) And while some people may bring up Nuance people never actually explain what they mean. The “internet is bad” essays that I always see, never explain the good side, the community that others, in different situations, get. The resources and support for mental health and physical health. Most knowledge at our fingertips. But just like with everything else, moderation is key. The internet isn’t bad for us, it’s just too addictive for us, we spend too long on social media and sites made to be addictive.
no you’re so right!! every time i see a “this is how substack feels like” with a picture of the dead poet society or a fucking field with flowers i want to delete the app and never come back
I joined Substack in the spring and have been noticing this more and more. It’s like what happened with YouTube — an over-saturation of video essays regurgitating social media controversies and such, but with nothing new to bring to the topic itself, basically a conversation within an echo chamber. It really is the consequence of convenience.
Agreed!! The comparison to YouTube is really apt. Ive found myself more and more bored with the internet lately because of this. Like: everyone’s miserable lonely death of 3rd spaces nobody has community it’s so hard to make friends as an adult everyone’s chopping off their eyelids we’re addicted to the Internet. Y’alllllllllllllll I’m tired of being panicked over Society These Days. I need to work harder to find the weirdos
Okay so I know this is kinda ironic but thank you for saying this. everything on this website is so lukewarm and agreeable, and for dumb reasons. Like I get that the world sucks and fascism and all that, but I can't help but feel as tho the white corporate elite just realized that suffering exists, and so substack gives them this space to feel like they can be a "voice for good" while still not quitting their job at Raytheon.
I know its not quite that simple, and sure, not everything needs to be this soul-piercing gut wrenching "thing" of an essay, but like, I think that people do just want to make "comfortable" things. And not just comfortable to others, but comfortable to themselves. People don't want to look at a piece and go "damn did I really write that? I'm fucked up!" They want to look back and go "wow, I really wrote that. I'm so cool."
Thank you for this. I am new to substack, but a previous user of Tumblr. A lot of posts here sound like “omg we’re so special for using Tumblr” which annoyed me on that site. Or like “reddit, do your thing!” on reddit.
I’ll say the one thing that annoys me most is everyone on Substack Notes pontificating against social media. Y’ALL, THIS IS SOCIAL MEDIA, and here we all are, trying to go viral yet again—this time, for an audience of nerds.
i really loved this. notes needing to be used to promote and gain your followers is so annoying. and the only posts i ever get on my page are ones with 20k plus likes that are called like “why you NEED to delete tiktok” and “100 prompts to be a thought daughter” lol and then i feel like a failure when i share something honest and no one gives a fuck so it gets like 3 likes (2 of which are me and my mom). i feel like i’ve had to turn my writing into substack writing (the formula you perfectly described) which im ashamed to admit lol but im trying to be more honest and not just write what im genuinely feeling but in a way i think people want to read.
I think it just depends on who you follow; I work hard to curate a discerning feed consisting of only the most interesting voices on the platform - including you, of course.
I’ve not even read this yet butt my goodnessssssssss if it’s about what I think it’s about yesssssssssssss!!!!! I am sick of it, some of us are loud unboundaried extroverts 😭🤣😂
Edit
Ok I’ve read it now!!!! Personally I’m sick of ‘yearning’ why is everyone constantly writing about yearning????
No but really, the part about judging your own writing super harshly while high is so me, and the reason I haven't been able to publish my first post yet. But authentic writing like this motivates me, but more importantly, makes this app worth the screen time.
i liked this halfway through and wish i could like it five more times. i am trying to reconnect with my love for writing, and in that journey i am understanding that the key to making something i love is realizing i can write about literally anything i want, as long as its interesting to Me, and the curiosity to understand drives the piece. a lot of articles that come across my feed feel like an extension of pop-therapy — a bunch of people that certainly do not have any psychology backgrounds trying to sell us the magic cure all of how to fix your life. i, like many people on here, gravitated towards this app in an attempt to find a cure to the Weight Of Meta. But it seems a lot of what the algorithm is trying to feed me often looks like exactly what you said, a coffee shop regular trying to tell me that my life will change forever if i just romanticize my life and read Joan Didion. They are capitalizing on their audience that Substack surely has an influx of — a bunch of lost people trying to be more in tune with themselves, and their inner academic. they just don’t know where to begin.
Instant subscribe, you're so funny! Also death the the notes feed, I don't think I can take any more faux-tweet about how we're all smarter than TikTok-users. Not me bitch!
i hear your frustration! i think there are pitfalls with every tool/platform. yes, all of our essays on here are becoming sound-bytey and formulaic. idk i think we’re gonna start retreating a bit from the internet soon which will do us some good. maybe we just need a break so we can remember what we liked about sharing on this app in the first place
I feel like in the reach toward “community” everyone goes milquetoast and boring. We need more bullying!! Let’s bully people out of their complacency (I say having just published something truly milquetoast) and into something grittier
I think you’ve hit on something key, Chrissy. Substack has become its own performative form of community, with a sanitized, reductive set of safe topics and cliched phrases that establish membership in that community of thought. This was done as a backlash to the rage-baiting and trolling of other platforms, which is understandable, but has become its form of ideological prison. Your writing is remarkable in that it refuses to conform to this orthodoxy and offers a form of expression that feels radically free and personal. I’m really looking forward to what you write in 2026.
eeee thank you so much ❤️❤️ you really succinctly named the problem — will continue to try to push the boundary next year :)
This is so true
yeah this site is stifling. stop being so damn nice everyone it's so boring here
If it’s any consolation, you are one of the strongest voices I read here in terms of having a unique perspective and tone, so, for the time being, I wouldn’t include your work in that great “homogenization.”
On another note, I think if every Substack essayist was forbidden from using words like “gentle,” “tender,” “ache,” “soft,” etc etc maybe that would help a little? Maybe we’re frustrated with different writers.
My central issue with how things are going is how all-or-nothing some of these essays can be; how a new album can be “the end of the American straight woman” or some random tweet signals “the downfall of the American community” fill in the blank as you must. Essays were never meant to be so all-encompassing. The best stay small, in a particular, and often peculiar moment, else there wouldn’t be something worth saying. And something can be worth saying if it doesn’t get tacked to something so huge. It’s a try, not a total remedy. Right?
definitely hate the soft quiet gentle tenderification of substack too !!!!! and thank you <3
To your point if I see one more essay refer to “the quiet grief of…” I will simply perish. We need to stop with this. Even if it’s the most accurate description of something, the words “gentle” “tender” “ache” “quiet grief” etc etc NEED to be stopped. They’ve lost all meaning and I’m cringing physically!!
I’m not trying to self promote but this inspired me to write a chaotic poem where I deliberately say “quiet ache” like a million times in the middle of absolutely vulgar and bizarre nonsense. Thanks or sorry I did that or something.
wait... i need to read this. send please.
If it helps, inserting the word ‘quiet’ especially is a common AI trope. LLMs add quiet in all over the place and it’s one of the easiest ways to tell that someone has used AI. So it might actually be AI and people that use it as a crutch too much that we’re all mad at. I guess that tracks.
I definitely agree with the “all or nothing” approach these essays seem to take. Not just on Substack either but all over social media. Nothing can be good and bad, nothing can be discussed in a nuanced way. (I do hate the word Nuance now though because I always hear “nuance this” and “context that.”) And while some people may bring up Nuance people never actually explain what they mean. The “internet is bad” essays that I always see, never explain the good side, the community that others, in different situations, get. The resources and support for mental health and physical health. Most knowledge at our fingertips. But just like with everything else, moderation is key. The internet isn’t bad for us, it’s just too addictive for us, we spend too long on social media and sites made to be addictive.
no you’re so right!! every time i see a “this is how substack feels like” with a picture of the dead poet society or a fucking field with flowers i want to delete the app and never come back
I joined Substack in the spring and have been noticing this more and more. It’s like what happened with YouTube — an over-saturation of video essays regurgitating social media controversies and such, but with nothing new to bring to the topic itself, basically a conversation within an echo chamber. It really is the consequence of convenience.
Agreed!! The comparison to YouTube is really apt. Ive found myself more and more bored with the internet lately because of this. Like: everyone’s miserable lonely death of 3rd spaces nobody has community it’s so hard to make friends as an adult everyone’s chopping off their eyelids we’re addicted to the Internet. Y’alllllllllllllll I’m tired of being panicked over Society These Days. I need to work harder to find the weirdos
Circle jerking slow quiet mornings 🤣
Okay so I know this is kinda ironic but thank you for saying this. everything on this website is so lukewarm and agreeable, and for dumb reasons. Like I get that the world sucks and fascism and all that, but I can't help but feel as tho the white corporate elite just realized that suffering exists, and so substack gives them this space to feel like they can be a "voice for good" while still not quitting their job at Raytheon.
I know its not quite that simple, and sure, not everything needs to be this soul-piercing gut wrenching "thing" of an essay, but like, I think that people do just want to make "comfortable" things. And not just comfortable to others, but comfortable to themselves. People don't want to look at a piece and go "damn did I really write that? I'm fucked up!" They want to look back and go "wow, I really wrote that. I'm so cool."
Thank you for this. I am new to substack, but a previous user of Tumblr. A lot of posts here sound like “omg we’re so special for using Tumblr” which annoyed me on that site. Or like “reddit, do your thing!” on reddit.
this is such a spot-on comparison LOL
I’ll say the one thing that annoys me most is everyone on Substack Notes pontificating against social media. Y’ALL, THIS IS SOCIAL MEDIA, and here we all are, trying to go viral yet again—this time, for an audience of nerds.
i really loved this. notes needing to be used to promote and gain your followers is so annoying. and the only posts i ever get on my page are ones with 20k plus likes that are called like “why you NEED to delete tiktok” and “100 prompts to be a thought daughter” lol and then i feel like a failure when i share something honest and no one gives a fuck so it gets like 3 likes (2 of which are me and my mom). i feel like i’ve had to turn my writing into substack writing (the formula you perfectly described) which im ashamed to admit lol but im trying to be more honest and not just write what im genuinely feeling but in a way i think people want to read.
Thought daughter killed me. Hahaha!!!
I think it just depends on who you follow; I work hard to curate a discerning feed consisting of only the most interesting voices on the platform - including you, of course.
I’ve not even read this yet butt my goodnessssssssss if it’s about what I think it’s about yesssssssssssss!!!!! I am sick of it, some of us are loud unboundaried extroverts 😭🤣😂
Edit
Ok I’ve read it now!!!! Personally I’m sick of ‘yearning’ why is everyone constantly writing about yearning????
THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS.
No but really, the part about judging your own writing super harshly while high is so me, and the reason I haven't been able to publish my first post yet. But authentic writing like this motivates me, but more importantly, makes this app worth the screen time.
i liked this halfway through and wish i could like it five more times. i am trying to reconnect with my love for writing, and in that journey i am understanding that the key to making something i love is realizing i can write about literally anything i want, as long as its interesting to Me, and the curiosity to understand drives the piece. a lot of articles that come across my feed feel like an extension of pop-therapy — a bunch of people that certainly do not have any psychology backgrounds trying to sell us the magic cure all of how to fix your life. i, like many people on here, gravitated towards this app in an attempt to find a cure to the Weight Of Meta. But it seems a lot of what the algorithm is trying to feed me often looks like exactly what you said, a coffee shop regular trying to tell me that my life will change forever if i just romanticize my life and read Joan Didion. They are capitalizing on their audience that Substack surely has an influx of — a bunch of lost people trying to be more in tune with themselves, and their inner academic. they just don’t know where to begin.
i could say so much more! this is so wonderful!
Instant subscribe, you're so funny! Also death the the notes feed, I don't think I can take any more faux-tweet about how we're all smarter than TikTok-users. Not me bitch!
i hear your frustration! i think there are pitfalls with every tool/platform. yes, all of our essays on here are becoming sound-bytey and formulaic. idk i think we’re gonna start retreating a bit from the internet soon which will do us some good. maybe we just need a break so we can remember what we liked about sharing on this app in the first place
I feel like in the reach toward “community” everyone goes milquetoast and boring. We need more bullying!! Let’s bully people out of their complacency (I say having just published something truly milquetoast) and into something grittier