Stop pleading with the Substack algorithm to find you cool people to follow.

Go to the profile page (like mine, below) of someone you subscribe to, and check out all the posts they LIKE and the publications they subscribe to.

Look at what Austin Kleon likes.

Patti Smith subscribes to five newsletters.

I guarantee you’ll find some interesting characters by doing this, and it’s way more fun than waiting on a computer algorithm

From Joshua Heath Scott:

“As artists and creatives, we face the challenge of standing out against the digital tide. Han explores the importance of making real, physical art that holds emotions, memories, and true community value, unlike the fleeting nature of digital information.”

This really makes me want to start putting together a print version of Social Media Escape Club. Printing photos every month. Making newspaper projects with Newspaper Club.

Via Zach

It’s Friday, so another Four the Weekend – four things I hope you’ll do by Monday.

1. If you’re still on social media, ask one person to subscribe to your email newsletter. Yes, one. Avoid saying “sign up for updates.”
2. Watch ‘Real Art Matters In a Digital World’ by Joshua Heath Scott, then think about how you can bring your digital work into the real world (thanks Zach Sprowls).
3. Did you make a video to promote something you’re selling? Try embedding it on your sales page, instead of sending your fans to YouTube. I explain why here.
4. Practice leaving social media and experience being unavailable. Be bored and do nothing for a few minutes. Leave your phone in the car.

I loved this point from Michael Gilbride of MAD Records so much I made an audio clip from the What Am I Making Podcast, hosted by Matty C.

I’ve been saying this for a minute – use the same magic and creativity that you put into your music and your art and your videos, and use that same spirit in how you market your work. How you grow. How you shape the business, and how you want to operate in the world.

Hear the full episode here.

Fom ‘Covert Clicks: The ‘Psyopification’ of the Internet,’ by Social Medium:

“The most important realization is that the internet is no longer neutral terrain. It is not just a communication tool; it is an environment designed to shape behavior. The question is not whether you are being influenced—it is whether you recognize how and by whom.”

I’ve been thinking about this for awhile, “the internet is a tool, not a destination.”

A tool to order books, then read them in my living room.

A tool to connect with others, then go cook dinner.

A tool for my banking and business admin, but then for logging out and going for a walk.

Every second spent online is data tracked, monitored, and stored. And probably sold to random bidders.

Time offline, away from the internet, provides less surface area for being influenced by the powers that be.

Erin Shetron of FREQUENT CRIERS CLUB (and marketing consultant) wrote about the messiness that sometimes comes with working as a “growth strategist,” and how there’s many ways to develop growth:

“I realize that i’m working with a grander definition of “growth.” growth in authenticity, in craft, in honesty, in nuance, in alignment. the question “how can I grow my newsletter?” becomes, “what happens when I work on my creativity so deeply and in such true alignment that my project naturally expands?”

I wrote something similar in Posting is a distraction:

“What if our practice became so deep and rich that the 100 people lucky enough to be on our email list started telling more people?

What if the magic isn’t about hitting an arbitrary subscriber count, but reaching the tipping point in our work where the magic can longer be contained, and it begins to spread without us needing to write messages on beaches?”

The “messages on beaches” part is how I think about posting on social media; constant posting, seeking growth, yet all that work washes away in minutes.

But the true work, as Erin explains – “growth in authenticity, in craft, in honesty, in nuance, in alignment” – that’s where the visible growth can come from. When the foundation is strong, and the motives pure, the work becomes a vibration, a wavelength for others to pick up on.

You know that if you leave a comment, someone will see it. That’s how it works.

You also know that screaming from a street corner will get you some weird looks and not many positive interactions.

Where then is a good place to put our energy? What’s the best use of our time?

We are so entagnled in this “micro-blogging” quick fix life. It’s so easy to post a photo, a remark, an opinion. In the past the social media overlords swung the attention in our favor. They knew our friends would hit like, and some friends of friends.

They knew we could get addicted to this. So they slowly pulled it away, so some people who relied on (small businesses, creators, etc) would start paying for the impressions.

It was all a house of cards, and it’s crumbling.

But now as we return to blogging (like this), or email list, the rush isn’t there. The likes don’t flow like they used to. Fewer replies.

Which then makes us long for the social media hit. The quick fix. Post again, and again.

It’s gone, and it ain’t coming back.

The fulfillment we seek is already in us, it’s never from something outside (thanks, Alex for that one).

In middle school I always had the latest issue of BMX Plus, and wore Airwalk shoes that mom ordered for me from the JCPenny catalog. I grew my hair long and wore a Batman cycling cap.

I was sending signals, people! So were you. Even right now. Everything we do and how we operate is a secret nod to those who might “get it.”

The signals you send say, “this is the stuff I do, come say hello.” I was sending lots of “I’m into cool music and I want to be in a band” signals at that time.

The kid with the black jean jacket and a Bon Jovi shirt got my signal in 5th grade. Years later I’d join his band (which changed my life).

What signals are you putting out today?

How can you send better signals?

And how can you make sure your signal doesn’t get lost in the noise?

The below only really applies to the Substack platform, but I think the logic behind it can carry over into other places.

Stop begging the Substack Notes algorithm to “send you” cool people to follow.

Sending signals to social media algorithms is a poor use of time.

I bet you already subscribe to / follow at least one interesting person on Substack, right?

Go to their profile (here is mine) and check out all the posts they LIKE and the publications they subscribe to.

See? Now you’ve got tons of interesting people to discover via someone’s unique taste and cool vibe discernment.

It’s all about the “liner notes.” Find people involved with the cool videos you watch on YouTube, or the people who leave comments, or dig through the guests on your favorite podcasts. Find out who they’re following, who they’re writing about and sharing about.