I have turned on Substack subscriber chat
I have turned on Substack subscriber chat
It is an experiment — let's see how it goes!
I give away pretty much all of my content for free, barring a single paid newsletter I do once a month, where the value is in timeliness. Paywalls for content don’t do it for me, I prefer ideas to have maximum reach and minimum friction. The world seems to have a way of sending me the resources I need when I need them. That said, you do need to make sure you ask for the appropriate help, and make it easy for others to offer it! Otherwise it’s like the person who prays for a lottery win but won’t buy a ticket.
A while back I decided to let people pay me on Substack, with the sole benefit being inner glow, which remains my only “purchase promise”. Then I added on article comments, but only open to paying subscribers. It keeps away the trolls and those who only seek to despoil. You can still reply to me for free to any newsletter, although I struggle to keep up with email these days. Now I am adding on the new chat feature that Substack have created. It may be another “digital mouth to feed”, but being only open to paying subscribers means we are energetically more in balance.
I don’t make any promises whatsoever about my own contribution to the chat — it’s on an “as and when energy and attention available” basis. But it is another benefit of subscribing. After years of economic harassment and deplatforming attacks it is quite a relief to have a reliable income for my work on a platform committed to free speech and equal treatment of all creators. It does mean there can be richer discussion around each piece I produce, and it doesn’t all end up in my own inbox.
To join my Future of Communications chat, you’ll need to download the Substack app (messages are sent via the app, not email) which is currently iOS only.
How to get started
Download the app by clicking this link or the button below. Chat is only on iOS for now, but chat is coming to the Android app soon.
Open the app and tap the Chat icon. It looks like two bubbles in the bottom bar, and you’ll see a row for my chat inside.
That’s it! Jump into my thread to say hi, and if you have any issues, check out Substack’s FAQ.
I’ve already started my first chat thread so come on over and say hello!
