So with regards to what I said about how Fark won't survive this year without more TF subscribers, I wrote up a longer explanation about what we're all up against. Not just Fark, all of digital media.
Fark NotNewsletter: Not Ready to go on the cart
www.fark.comJul 29, 2026 at 2:31 AM
Substack Writers Concerned as Subscriptions ‘Plummet’ Due to Follow Feature
Substack writers are expressing their concerns about the platform’s following feature on social media, which some argue is suppressing their subscription growth.
Will McGugan on Twitter / X
I'm writing up a blog post about Markdown streaming, because I think it is an interesting topic.I reckon there will be almost a dozen people who agree with me! pic.twitter.com/T4VhTwvoma— Will McGugan (@willmcgugan) July 22, 2025
The Curious About Everything Newsletter #60
The many interesting things I read in February 2026
Has Substack’s subscription model really “maxed out?”
Scott Carney and Taylor Lorenz posted on Substack about downward subscriber trends they’re seeing. Carney pins it on subscription fatigue and feeling like “The only way to grow is to pillage the paid subscribers from other creators.” Lorenz questions Substack’s direction, saying “more and more like this app is becoming another social media feed.” When we recently wrote about writers who are leaving Substack, they mentioned control, pricing, and the social feature creep among their reasons for choosing competitors like Ghost and Behiiv. [Link: Writers are fleeing the Substack Tax | https://www.theverge.com/tech/927294/substack-tax-ghost-beehiiv | The Verge]
The Curious About Everything Newsletter #65
The many interesting things I read in July 2026
Digital News Report 2026
As the world changes at accelerating speed, news media report and update on these events around the clock, jostling for a share of the four to five hours each day that people devote to their smartphones. For some, this means new opportunities to stay close to news stories as they unfold; for others, it risks creating a sense of overload.
The new Farcaster channel moderation system is exactly what we need
Farcaster recently embarked on the first step towards decentralized channels, and this move has caused a lot of consternation and confusion. Multiple...
The Curious About Everything Newsletter #63
The many interesting things I read in May 2026
The Dark Forest Theory of the Internet
Why the dark forests of the internet — podcasts, newsletters, and other private channels — are growing, and why might that pose a problem
Ecosystem or Echo-System? Exploring Content Sharing across Alternative Media Domains
Kate Starbird,Ahmer Arif,Tom Wilson,Katherine Van Koevering,Katya Yefimova,Daniel Scarnecchia
Alex Komoroske on Twitter / X
What if technology didn’t feel so… hollow?Some friends and I just released a manifesto about a world where tech leaves us feeling nourished (along with an evolving list of theses about how we can build it)https://t.co/sfKBVZ2zXr— Alex Komoroske (@komorama) December 5, 2025
Matt Pocock on Twitter / X
I don't know what the fuss is about. Anthropic's rules on using subscriptions are very simple:Claude Code = OKClaude's online platform = OKAgent SDK running in personal software = OK... ish?Agent SDK running in commercial software = NOT OKClaude Code running in CI = ??Oh,… https://t.co/IDYSh7QPOo— Matt Pocock (@mattpocockuk) April 4, 2026
Changes to the Facebook Algorithm Decreased News Visibility Between 2021-2024
Platforms, especially Facebook, are primary news sources in the US. In its widely criticized "War on News," Meta algorithmically deprioritized news and political content. We use data from 40 news organizations (5,243,302 Facebook posts, 7,875,372,958 user reactions) and 21 non-news pages (396,468 posts; 1,909,088,308 reactions) between January 1, 2016 and February 13, 2025 to examine how these changes influenced news visibility on the platform. Reactions to news declined by 78% between 2021 and 2024 while reactions to non-news pages increased, indicating targeted suppression of news visibility. Low-quality sources were especially suppressed, yet the 2025 end to "War on News" increased user reactions to news, especially low-quality ones. These changes do not reflect decreased news supply, Facebook user base, or interest in news over this period.
Twitter: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
The Breach (@breachmedia.ca)
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