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Ricardo F. Palma's avatar

But still, just because you are on Substack which bother way, looks more and more like a social media platform, means people don’t write with a.i. or even on a website.

I agree that people crave for depth that’s for sure.

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Gianni De Rezende Cara's avatar

Yeah, I’ve shifted my view on Substack over the last few months. It’s not that I hadn’t noticed its flirtation with social-media mechanics, but I’ve come to see something more structural: Substack seems intent on locking writers into its ecosystem.

Yes, you can download your list and move it elsewhere. But the fact that Substack doesn’t allow custom sending domains—and instead forces emails to go out from Substack’s domain—is telling. It subtly raises the cost of leaving.

If you build, say, a 3,000-subscriber list where no one has ever received an email from your own domain, the moment you leave and send that first email, your domain’s lack of reputation will hurt deliverability, and many messages will land in spam.

That friction doesn't seem accidental to me.

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Ricardo F. Palma's avatar

That’s good to know. I was considering connecting a domain in here… now not so sure.

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Gianni De Rezende Cara's avatar

Yep, I connected my domain with the intention of using it to send emails, only to find out afterward that Substack doesn’t support it.

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Castaly Haddon's avatar

Good insights, thanks

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Lindy Warrell's avatar

You appear to be well on that path already, Gianni. You write with insight and clarity too, which is great.

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Lindy Warrell's avatar

Gianni, your way of exploring these ideas is brilliant. It makes me feel good to know someone out there raising a voice that will be heard. Thank you for that. I feel happier for knowing someone is cutting through the haze of words.

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Gianni De Rezende Cara's avatar

Thanks for the kind words, Lindy. Still a lot of work to do, but as I clear the path for myself, I hope to make it easier for others to navigate it too.

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