Why I’m Changing How We Communicate (And Disabling “Likes”)
This is a note about a practical change and a frustrating discovery.
First, the change: Next week, this free site transitions to a focused roster: occasional public interest reports and the weekly Global Markets Navigator. My premium work—the INSTAT, Portfolio, and Playbook reports—will now live on their own dedicated Substack publications. This separation ensures that readers get precisely the content they care about.
Now, the frustration: This move was partly motivated by a growing suspicion that many free subscribers were here not for the content, but for “reverse links” to their own sites. This week, that suspicion hardened into fact. My notification feed was suddenly flooded with “Likes” from accounts like “SeduceAmanda,” “makeafish,” “MindBenders,” “Literary Wisdom,” “Book Therapy,” and “BookTasters” to name six—all on reports several weeks old. The pattern was unmistakably spam.
Substack’s AI agent support offered no real solution, leaving me to manually block these accounts. As I explained to them, this is a poor use of time. If I’m blocking 6-7 a day, what happens when it becomes 60-70?
The consequence: The only control I have is to disable the “Likes” feature for free subscribers. This pains me. Those genuine likes and comments have been a compass, showing me what resonates with thoughtful readers. Disabling them severs a real connection.
In the end, everyone loses: engaged readers lose a feedback tool, I lose that signal, and Substack loses a bit of its community integrity. But it’s necessary to reclaim my focus and protect the quality of this platform for you and I. My primary commitment remains to the readers who actively engage with and value my work.
