I’ve been writing on the Internet for nearly 20 years.
Man. That number hits me like a ton of bricks launched from a canon. Ow. I’m getting old. (My back agrees.)
In that time, I’ve learned plenty of lessons. Some the hard way. Some vicariously. Some a bit of both.
But if there’s one lesson that keeps coming up in my experience, it’s that if you don’t own a platform, it’s not stable.
That’s not to say that you shouldn’t use something like Medium or Substack or YouTube or Instagram or Rumble or anything of the sort. Of course you can. And should. I love them all for various reasons.
That’s to say that you should never assume that you’re guaranteed the platform if you don’t own the keys to the house.
I’ve said this many times and in various ways, but I think it bears repeating.
Putting too many eggs in one basket
Some of the best content creators have fallen into this trap unintentionally. They go viral on YouTube or gain a huge following on one of the various social sites, and then they forget to build a following on other platforms too.
The bulk of their influence is locked to that specific site.
What happens, then, when that site’s algorithm changes or, worse, an account is suspended or terminated by an over-zealous AI moderation tool as we’ve seen happen with YouTube?
Everything you’ve worked hard to build, gone.
You think, “I follow the rules. I won’t have a problem.”
And that’s great. You should follow the rules. But mistakes can and do happen. Algorithms can and do shift, causing massive drop offs in traffic.
Not planning ahead is… reckless.
At best.
But that’s exactly what some of us do. We spend huge chunks of time, even years, growing on a platform and never considering the possibility that it could all go away overnight.
How many times has an algorithm changed causing views to tank and earnings to drop off a cliff? How many times have creators lost access to their accounts due to overzealous moderation with no ability to appeal? It happens.
You don’t control what you don’t own
Over the past few months, I’ve read so many reports of creators losing access to their YouTube channels because of YouTube’s overzealous AI moderation incorrectly flagging their accounts. One that comes to mind even had his videos stolen by someone else and then had his own channel taken down instead of the thief’s.
It’s infuriating! I can only imagine.
But incidents like these only serve to remind me that if I don’t own a platform, I don’t have any say over it or my time there. Not ultimately.
If YouTube or Instagram or Medium or Substack or any other platform decided my account should be suspended tomorrow, what recourse would I really have?
Sure, I could appeal the suspension, but what if they say no? What power would I have? None.
Could I walk over to the decision maker’s desk and say “reinstate that account please”? Of course not.
Be ready for things to change in a moment
In my time with the Internet, I’ve seen countless platforms come and go. Those who’ve been around longer have seen even more. No doubt.
I still remember in the early 2000s when I’d found this really fun site to write on. I started to build a decent following and really enjoyed it.
In time, the owners of the site decided they were going to revamp a few things about the site and started removing what many people had written, and all but kicking writers off the platform.
It was incredibly frustrating to say the least.
Since that time, others have come and gone too.
The reality is, you don’t know if a platform is going to be around forever. And even if you could be reasonably assured that it’s not going anywhere for a while, you still don’t know that your account will be around long term.
X is littered with reports of YouTube creators whose channels were mysteriously vaporized overnight. I recall hearing not too long ago of a relatively well established designer having his Dribbble account suspended simply because a client asked for his email. All that work, gone.
The same can happen to a Substack you’ve worked hard to build, or any long standing account.
The question is not “could it happen” but rather “what would you do if it did?”
Planning ahead instead
I prefer to be proactive though, instead of reactive. Having seen (though thankfully not experienced) this sort of thing over and over through the years, I know that I don’t want to get caught being too dependent on a single platform.
Instead, I take a two-pronged approach to content and advise others to do the same. Just in case.
1. Build on other platforms too
One of the best and immediate things you can do is start building on other sites too. If you’ve been writing on Substack, start writing on Medium. If on Medium, start a Substack. That sort of thing. Don’t limit yourself to one site just because you don’t have as many followers on the other. Having a presence there at least is better than having no presence at all.
That way if you ever lost access to one or the other, you’re already established on the other and not starting completely from scratch.
For example, I have a bunch of wallpapers on Gumroad, but that’s not the only place I’ll be hosting them. Not that I expect Gumroad to ever kick me off, of course. But I don’t want to have to scramble to find another solution if that ever did happen.
2. Build your own platform
Even in the age of AI, I still believe in the power of building something you own. Building a website is relatively easy these days, whether that’s a WordPress site or another CMS. Even an email list is something that you own and control and that can’t be taken away.
Your own platform doesn’t have to be crazy complex. Don’t overthink it. It can be something as simple as a blog that’s separate from Substack or Medium. Just something that’s yours.
That’s a big reason I’m personally investing more time into building my own site and creating content for it. I don’t expect it to replace other platforms, but in the event that I did lose access to those other platforms, I’d have something to fall back on.
Stay digitally mobile
Again, I know I’ve said this before, but I’ll continue saying it. Relying too much on a single platform is a bad move. Learn from others’ bad experiences and put yourself in a position to be okay even if your favorite platform were to shut down tomorrow.
I think the best thing content creators these days can do is to be adaptable and ready to move and use a variety of platforms. Focusing exclusively or too heavily on any one can put you in a bad spot in the event that your access were to be taken away or lost because a site went out of business or any of a million other reasons.
I know AI has lots of us on edge, and many of us are unsure about the future of various platforms or whether or not any one in particular will be worth the long term time investment. I don’t have all the answers. I don’t think anyone does.
But one thing I do know is this: positioning yourself as a writer, as an artist, as a business man or woman on a variety of platforms is a good idea. The alternative is letting yourself get siloed into one particular platform or site, which is risky.