Well hello substack!

Decided to head over here and see what’s happening in the alleged grown-up space where people still think…

Since getting pushed from LinkedIn in 2021-ish for having opinions contrary to the approved narrative, I kind of lost interest in platforms. Can’t even remember exactly what got me banned, and it doesn’t matter now. What does matter however is the power of those that be to just pull the rug. No recourse, no appeal, hell you can’t even reach customer service. So one day I have a LinkedIn profile with 30-odd years of professional history and the next I don’t. Poof, gone into thin air, no way to get it back.

I tried Facebook for a while but it’s not really a writer’s platform. It’s full of white noise and honestly the algorithm broke me, the reach was crap and I’d lost interest in writing, so I decided to just observe the insanity of the world around us from the theatre wings.

Quite a few of my mates have been on Substack for years, I’ve never bothered, but recently something shifted and I thought, let’s shake off the cobwebs and give it another go, so after a half a decade hiatus, I’m back.

The irony is not lost that I decide to rejoin just as Substack quietly introduce biometric age verification. Funny how that works isn’t it, you move the people who ask difficult questions onto a different platform, let them settle in, build their audience, feel safe, and then slowly introduce the same controls they thought they’d left behind, almost like the plan was never to free anyone, it was a ruse to contain them somewhere easier to manage.

In the UK, handing over your face is “optional”, but without it the interactive & community features are gated, which is arguably worse, allowing you to broadcast, but not converse, is a two tier experience. Technically it’s “optional” in much the same way that not wearing a seatbelt is if you don’t mind breaking the law or not driving!!!

Maybe I’m just cynical, but the upshot is perhaps I best not get too comfortable here either, and just write about all sorts, like what I’m working on, what I’m thinking about, what’s winding me up, and that’s likely to be all three at once in some posts!

So, if you’re an ex-LinkedIn refugee, a Facebook escapee, or just someone who still uses their brain, please say hello, be nice to know who’s in the room.

Sam

configure YOUR system. contAIn™ the chaos. control YOUR outcome.

This article was originally published on Substack.