Substack, For Better Or For Worse?
Substack Is Kinda "Biblical," Right?
Hello all,
Some of you are new. You might have come through thegospelcoalition.org as they shared a link to my previous post on their site. Welcome!
Before moving forward with Substack, I want to take some time to reflect on its history and use. Maybe I shouldn’t use Substack. Maybe you shouldn’t either! Any technology, whether a Facebook profile or a dishwasher, should be assessed for its benefits and tradeoffs.
First, I’ll reflect on the 20 years leading up to Substack. Then, I’ll go back further - the 200 years leading up to Substack. And finally, I’ll go all the way back 2000 years to see how Substack compares to Scripture.
A Brief History of Substack
Three phases:
First, in the 2000s there were blogs. Blogging grew in popularity as a consumable source of information and wisdom, easily accessible and personal. Blogging even became a profession for some, including Canadian Christian bloggers Tim Challies and Darryl Dash, as money was made through ads and sponsored content.
Then in the 2010s (phase two), two technologies disrupted blogs. Ad-blockers weakened revenue streams and social media changed human behaviour as people began consuming content on or via those social platforms rather than going direct to the source. This second impact is significant as online writers were forced to be active on Twitter and/or Facebook, or else they’d lose views. Many writers have lamented this, as the quality of discourse on social media is… well… questionable. Blogging always had a more reflective quality (with some exceptions) whereas posting on social media can feel like shouting in a crowd amongst contentious voices.
The third phase is the one we’re in. Substack, and its competitors like Ghost, provide a revenue model for online writers in the option of paid subscriptions, whether that be altruistic as in “I’ll subscribe to support you!” or transactional as in “I’ll pay $5 per month for exclusive content.” Further, Substack introduced a direct-to-email format that is more personal and less chaotic than the social media world. (You can also just have a free Substack as I do.)
With this history, you can begin to see some moral implications. In my view, Substack is a more reflective alternative to the emotional, trite, and abbreviated nature of social media. Substack has a higher likelihood of being worth your time, especially if you don’t curate your social media feed very often. Twitter is a place to find virtues expressed whereas Substack (and blogs, articles & books) are places to find virtues defended.
Further, Substack re-introduces the personal feel that a blog once had in the 2000s, as it goes directly to the reader without the commentary and distraction that social media normally bring. In other words, you don’t know how many people have liked this post as you read it (assuming you’re subscribed), and you’re less tempted to immediately like, comment, or retweet, because the email format doesn’t allow for easy one-click actions. You can reflect on the content itself; free from the incessant call of Big Tech’s expressive individualism.
So, Substack is a medium for more reflective thought, both for the author and the audience.
Let’s keep going.
A Longer History Of Substack
A technology ethicist, Neil Postman, wrote about one of the biggest changes in the distribution of content and how negatively it affected the world. I’m not talking about the internet here, but rather telegraphy. Postman quotes Henry Thoreau who assessed the telegraph as it was being built. It’s a great quote:
We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate. We are eager to tunnel under the Atlantic and bring the old world some weeks nearer to the new; but perchance the first news that will leak through into the broad flapping American ear will be that Princess Adelaide has the whooping cough.'1
Postman’s concern was not the distribution of information but rather the disembodied distribution of information. With the telegraph, you had the ability - in fact, the seeming necessity upon its widespread use - to share information in ways that weren’t restricted by the movement of a physical artifact, whether mailman or train. As telegraphy matured, sharing content became easier and easier.
When the command of Scripture is to think on the things of God (Psalm 1:2, Phil. 4:8, Col. 3:1-2, Rom. 12:1-2), we should be careful as authors and readers to avoid wasting time on far-off thoughts from far-off lands about far-off things that have nothing of substance to do with us.
Substack is a business competing in our complicated economy. And as you already know, we are not in an information economy. An economy is defined by its scarcest resource and certainly, with the internet, that is not information! Instead, we are in an attention economy where businesses compete for your eyeballs and thumb swipes. This is why Substack tells authors to recommend other authors on Substack so that people will be more likely to subscribe to many rather than few. Despite its more reflective character, Substack can still be a distraction from reading good books, including the Bible. And yet still, I’d like to argue that Substack is in some ways like the Bible.
Substack Is “Biblical”
One refreshing aspect of Substack is the ability to get a sense of your audience. For example, right now I know I have readers who include:
A mother who homeschools
A pastor of a church I’ve never been to
My dad
My wife
Strangers who likely know very little of me, other than that I seem to like The Gospel Coalition.
And I’m emailing them, essentially. That’s personal. And yet this letter also goes out to the world.
I think you already see how I can say that Substack is “biblical.” Much of the New Testament is exactly this — written initially for a small group of people and then distributed for all to see.
Luke wrote to Theophilus. That’s it. Paul wrote to Timothy and to Titus, individually. That’s it. Then other letters were written to groups. Paul wrote to a group that included Philemon, Apphia, Archippus, and their house church (Philemon 1:1-2). Peter wrote to “the exiles of the Dispersion.”
So Substack’s delivery model is akin to a biblical one. The difference is it’s not Phoebe bringing it (Rom. 16:1-2) nor Timothy (1 Cor. 4:17), but rather it’s delivered by the 56 employees who work for Substack.2
This personal nature of Substack interests me greatly. There is Biblical precedent for communication both personally and broadly about the specific needs of the day.
But what about Postman’s concern? Is my Substack going to be a time-waster? Is it just a distraction from the more local needs that we should all be attending to? You probably know someone within 15-minutes of you who could really use some encouragement right now. Maybe the Princess’ whooping cough really isn’t worth reading about? Maybe a reflection on the medium of Substack isn’t worth your time?
How I’ll Use Substack
I resolve to focus this Substack on where our minds ought to focus (Phil. 4:8) - on things that are true, pure, lovely, admirable, or even noble - only those things do I wish to think and write on.
I stand against the anti-intellectualism that some have, believing that we can only love God with our hearts, soul, and strength — and not our minds.
I speak up not because I am smarter than others but because writing is fruitful work for the mind and can be used in the service of the church.
I still have my concerns. I am concerned about the lack of allegiance people have towards institutions and how Substacks can worsen this. I am concerned about the popups and the automated prompts.3 I am concerned about my own mixed motives. And I am concerned that my writing is poor (and perhaps a little long-winded, sorry).
But, there are concerns with any endeavor. There are tradeoffs. Pros and cons. Given the Biblical precedent, the need I see for public theologians in Canada, my own desire to think well, my belief that I’ll think well through writing well, and more, I’ll continue writing.
Though 56 isn’t nearly enough. There’s also the work of the people at Amazon Web Servers, Microsoft (my keyboard), PC (my device), Rogers (my internet), Bell (your internet), Apple (your device), and Google (your email provider). I’m sure I missed some. Yeah, this took a lot more people hours to get to you than Paul’s letter did to Rome, though those Roman roads were no joke to build either.