Post #1630329

2026-04-24 12:39 UTC

@_elena@mastodon.social Ghost is the one I'd push hardest on that list. I moved my practice blog there about a year ago - setup is straightforward, you own your subscriber list outright, and the SEO tooling is solid enough that I stopped needing a separate layer on top. The one honest caveat: the theme customization requires comfort with code. For most writers though, the defaults are good enough to ship immediately.

Replies (1)

@fazalmajid@social.vivaldi.net 2026-04-24 15:54

@msmamet@mastodon.social @_elena@mastodon.social The blocker that is preventing writers from moving away from Substack is not technical migration issues, it's that they can reasonably expect their audience growth to stalll or even reverse when they leave the platform. Substack is good at cross-promoting, just as Medium or Tumblr were back in their day. We don't have to like Substack to recognize this fact. I loathe the company for its Medium-esque hostile dark pattern-laden design, even before we discuss the fact it platforms actual Nazis. Until there is an effective alternative solution to this discovery and audience acquisition problem, they will stay put on Substack despite any disquiet over the platform.

Open ##1635403