Someone noticed that I had more than 1,000 followers on Substack. They complimented me for it. “You’re a stud,” this person said.
First – those aren’t honest followers. They are imported email subscribers to a different list. Somehow they got linked to me. Whatever.
But the compliment made me a bit sick to my stomach. Having a big platform (not that 1k is a big platform) is a dangerous, deceiving thing. Pursuit of platform and valuing people based on platform is the opposite of how I want to live or see.