Block the Schlock

Combatting the Facebook-ization of Substack

I dropped Facebook in 2017 upon the realization that they, along with Cambridge Analytica, were instrumental in propagandizing the 2016 election by creating profiles from the data collected on Facebook without user permission. It was a key factor in Clinton’s loss, along with interference from Russia. I also dropped my personal Instagram account at the same time, and when I retired in 2022 I deleted my business account. I have since dropped all Meta platforms and X. I was never a Tik-Tok user, nor SnapChat. I didn’t want to be a part of a social media platform that could be so easily manipulated by bad actors and whose goal it is to suppress democratic ideals.

Substack, I thought, was the last bastion of online serious discourse when I joined right after the 2024 election. Thoughtful writers, interesting comments from readers, and a community that promoted other people’s work, including that of independent journalists who were being exiled from mainstream media because they refused to bow to the oligarchy and become mouthpieces for the regime, unlike the formerly trusted news organizations like the New York Times and The Washington Post who have decided appeasing fascists is now part of the journalistic job description.

But it is becoming increasingly clear that the Substack of two years ago is not the same today. These showed up in my feed just today:

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t come here for memes. I didn’t come here for cute animals with pithy adages of positivity. I didn’t come here for the blatant polarization. I didn’t come here for MAGA-bashing, no matter how much they deserve it. I didn’t come here for the feel-good stories that actually highlight our nation’s dysfunction unintentionally.

I came here to write. To read. To learn. To find like-minded people with whom to figure out how in holy hell we’re going to defeat the dumbing down of America that got us in this mess in the first place. I don’t need content creators to meme-ify the news. I want them to analyze it, or, at the very least to re-stack it with a thoughtful comment to spur conversation. Some of you know I donate my proceeds from my paid subscriptions to Christopher Armitage’s The Existentialist Republic’s PAC, with the goal of fascist-proofing our state governments. I never would have met him and others who work with him without this platform, and I’m grateful for the connection it provided.

But the Notes feed on Substack is quickly becoming as toxic as the Newsfeed on Facebook, not to mention allowing content creators who are clearly far-right, racist, misogynistic, or anti-queer agitators looking to pollute the discourse for clicks and data-collection. And, if I’m being honest, there are plenty of left-leaning click-bait stories as well, fueling the outrage machine without actually providing meaningful or actionable steps to stop diagnosing the problems and actually do something to keep them from happening, over and over again.

So here’s what I plan to do; maybe you will do the same. Every time I see meme-ification that does nothing but stir the pot, I’m going to block the poster. Every time I see trolls that don’t add anything to the conversation, I will block them (and report them, too, if their comments are particularly hate-fueled). Every time someone posts a cute animal video or photo, I’m going to block them, too--although I will allow Caturday posts in the Chat feature. :-) Every time I see a writer/creator with “hopium” posts or yet another “can you imagine if Obama/Biden did this” comparison to the current shitshow that is the Trump Administration, that block button is going to be pressed.

In other words, instead of just scrolling on by, we need to actively reject the enshittification of this platform before it becomes intolerable and yet another way for the oligarchy to collect profile information on us to subvert democracy.

Who’s with me? I’m coming up with a new rallying cry: “Block the schlock.” What strategies should we add to this? Feel free to add them to the comments.