Welcome to my crib...

...or perhaps, my Substack!

Note: at the point of writing, this is a completely free of charge Substack.

Some of you may be wondering why I've taken you through the ordeal of subscribing to yet another platform, downloading another app, and potentially even paying for another subscription.

Well, to me it's simple.

Social media as it stands, on most platforms, is broken.

The algorithms run the game.

'Tits and teeth' get far more attention than thinking and leading.

Frankly, I'm never going to be an Insta babe, and whilst that might be a goal for some, it certainly isn't for me.

One of the tipping points for me was the bought blue tick. Once a mark of someone considered noteworthy enough to potentially have their account imitated, it rapidly became a status symbol. As someone who had one on Twitter, and currently has one on Facebook and Instagram (but for how long, who knows?), it used to give very little benefit. I had to sign away my right to anonymity on the platforms, in exchange for a small icon which proved that I asked for verification enough times for someone at the platform to cave in.

Yes - that's how it's done. Twitter or Instagram didn't 'bless' your friend with a blue tick because of how amazing they are. They’re not David Beckham. Instead, they requested it through the 'Request Verification' tab of the settings with some links to prove that they can be found in the media and are noteworthy in their own village, and if they were anything like me, submitted it a few times until it worked.

Buying blue ticks isn't new. If like most you couldn't get one through the official routes, I understand that you could have bought them through 'media partners'. It all seemed a little dodgy to me, and to be honest, a huge waste of money. But now, the blue ticks are a small waste of money, every single month.

Drip, drip, drip...

And indicative of the continued direction of travel for social media platforms.

As humans, many of us have fallen into the trap of bought status symbols. Drive a German Whip? Bought homogenous sunglasses made in an Italian factory with a luxury clothing brand name slapped on them, for 100x the cost of production? Carry a handbag that didn't come from Asda and cost 5 pence? Yeah... that includes you too.

The thing is, these items bring us a target to achieve, and often serve to celebrate milestones. Birthdays, new jobs, promotions, and so on. I could be fluffy and spiritual about this stuff but you know what? If that's what motivates you (and yes, it is what motivates me too), then that's fine. We shouldn't all pretend to be spiritual beings with not a single capitalist bone in our bodies, as many of us aren't.

But let's be honest, who really benefits from a blue icon, made up of 200 or so pixels, now that it is available to everyone?

Will they be the new Omega Swatch, something 'aspirational' at a commodotised price, which everyone soon realised was just an expensive Swatch once the perception of scarcity had disappeared?

Or even worse, an 'NFT', an asset you can't touch, smell, taste etc, but available to everyone?

Anyways, I digress. And I fear I'm sounding a bit too old and wise for my own good.

Back to the subject. The bought blue tick was just one of the reasons why traditional social media platforms leave me cold. The algorithms, the limits on creation (words, characters and so on), the inability to link externally without killing reach, and so on. Add to that the fact that it is now pay to play, and it's clear that the model is only heading in one direction.

And that's not a direction I fancy travelling down.

So again, welcome to my Substack!

I'll be sharing thoughts and musings across my main areas of expertise, or more accurately observation. Much of it will be free of charge; however to be transparent I am considering whether to add a 'premium' membership with additional benefits, to avoid the other way of monetising which is a whole deal more underhanded (trust me, I know, and I feel like one of the very few who actually uses #AD. And doesn't sip from a branded cup, weave in references etc without declaring a potential conflict).

My topics will be broadly based on the same subjects as my books and current social media posts. Personal development and small business. With a dash of insight from my other worlds, which include fintech, neurodivergence, fashion and football.

(By the way, that's another reason why I'm reducing external social media. If I don't post about Southend United, Twitter now suffocates me as that's the 'box' I've been placed into. My life is more than just one area.)

I hope you enjoyed this read, and I hope that you enjoy this journey.

Carl