substack dystopia

a poem for substack and their lack of care for its user base

Hello, Substack.
Chris Best,
Hamish McKenzie,
and Jairaj Sethi

we need to have a
(not so)
polite discussion
about your platform

a platform that was once
deemed as our version of heaven

a platform that was
a safe spot for us
to be ourselves
in our rawest form

a platform that was
heavily catered towards writing,
engagement, community, kindness

is now considered
a living hell for us
who are being pushed away
surely but slowly
because of
bullying/sexual harassment

suddenly
things don’t seem
so heavenly
anymore
because of your failure
to protect your users
from these far-right
nationalistic misogynists

you guys can platform nazi ideology
you guys can shield fascist propaganda
you guys can protect nationalism
you guys can defend authoritarian sympathizers

yet when it comes to your player base
who are being attacked with abuse
you guys completely shut down
and run away
like the scaredy cats you guys are

for what?
do you not care about us
who use this platform
to publish magnificent writing
read stunners
and spread kindness
to others within the community

you would rather nurture holocaust defenders
you would rather shelter trump supporters
you would rather sympathize with racists
you would rather harbor misogynistic men

you would rather not fortify those who are being threatened
you would rather not secure a meaningful community
you would rather not cushion those who don’t feel guarded
you would rather not let us see daylight

you guys would rather neglect our welfare
you guys would rather see us suffer in hell
you guys would rather punish us for being nice
you guys would rather show empathy to those who are assaulting us

according to the content guidelines
you guys seem to care about protecting people
from harm, harassment, threats, and offensive behavior

yet, you guys fail to actually protect the people
who are being attacked
with derogatory slurs
hate speech
sexual harassment
bodily harm
rape threats
misogynistic violence

think about how this makes me feel
as a former survivor of substack abuse

think about how this makes me feel
having to see my friends
go through this kind of bullying

think about how this makes me feel
being scared to show myself
because i fear
that someone will make a deepfake of me

think about how this makes me feel
fearing the potential possibility
of hate comments under my posts
or whenever i share my opinion

think about how this makes me feel
feeling drained out mentally
storing stress inside of me
dealing with burnout
from all of the anger and sadness
from my fighting
and advocatng

think about how this bullying
that you guys are allowing
is affecting us victims

think about how this affects us mentally
think about how this affects us physically
think about how this affects how we view ourselves

think about how this is affecting the player base
think about how this is affecting your platform

maybe this is what you guys really want
maybe these are your true colors
maybe you guys never actually cared about us
maybe you guys are just another evil social media corporation
prioritizing profit over people

you guys are able to install a TV app
that will be intervened by advertisements
with no ad free subscriptions

you are able to add in a prediction market
encouraging gambling behaviors

but you still won’t give us liberation
from these misogynistic men
and misandrisic women

i am tired of seeing my friends suffer
I am tired of being visible to the bullying myself
I am tired of having to go to war

we are tired of having to suffer
we are tired of having to block and report
we are tired of your poor moderation
we are tired of your lack of care for us

we should not have
to change our profile pictures
to a depressing black screen
just for you guys
to do nothing
to give us the justice
that we deserve

we should not have
to be treated this way
because you guys refuse
to get your lazy asses
to ban these people
who are harassing us
with derogatory bullying

i hope
that this poem
can be a wakeup call
for you guys
to get your acts together
and make this a safe platform
for us again

give us our deserved justice that we demand
give us our liberation that we are desperate for
free us from the bullying that we have been susceptible to

please tighten your moderation rules
please stop platforming sexual harassment
please let us have fun on this platform again

please and thank you :)

---

this was originally going to be in essay form. however, i did not like the way it was being articulated, i didn’t like the way my feelings were being formulated. so i came up with a poem instead. i have been really frustrated and disturbed with how much bullying has increased within this last week on this platform. it has affected my friends, it has affected me, if has been affecting this platform. the way things were being handled, it made me kind of sad. i kind of just bled words out on my notes app and this is what i kind of came up with. and these are my thoughts… you’re welcome. i really do hope things eventually change for the better. i don’t have any hope right now, but maybe this team will shock all of us somehow. that’s all.

i hope you enjoyed reading this. i’m still experimenting with poetry. i’ve never been one to engage with poetry. i’ve never written poetry, nor have i really read poetry much. i kind of just put together words and hope that they make sense. now that’s really all.