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Friday Fun Thread for April 12, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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It's annoying how expensive substacks are. I wish there are some sort of bulk deal where I could buy all the ones I'm interested in at a significant discount, because as much as I love the writing of the writers I follow, I can't drop a hundred bucks a year on each of them.

My biggest gripe is the trend in which Substack authors make most of their posts free but put personal recommendations, such as the films, books, or music they consumed or items they purchased, behind a paywall.

I much prefer it that way than the other way around.

I mean, isn't that the least important thing to paywall? If you want to know what they care about so badly, you probably care enough to pay for it.

I think it works for ‘optimizer’ tech guys who read three columns maximum, or for news/gossip/opinion junkies with money willing to spend $200/month on substacks, but for the average reader the newspaper model is obviously preferable.

I don’t think there’s a huge issue with it though. Before the advent of high speed presses and mass literacy in the mid 19th century newspapers/magazines were niche and expensive with very low circulation in most cases, and that worked for them.