Blurts

Several of the social media outlets I follow are asking for money claiming that ad revenue is drying up. Wikipedia does not take advantage of ad revenue, but is also asking for donations to continue their present approach. I link to Wikipedia often enough within my posts I decided it was appropriate I donate. I would argue many others should consider their own online activity and come to the same conclusion.

I have content on both Medium and Substack. As a writer, I do not regard either platform with the seriousness required to develop a significant following or assume I should expect compensation for my contributions.  I have been a blogger since 2002 and do not see abandoning this body of work and focusing on either Substack and Medium. However, experience with both platforms has given me insights into differences in the experiences of readers and these are my focus in this post.

The cost to readers depends on what a reader wants. If you are looking for unlimited free content, you can find lots of free posts on Substack. Medium limits free access to three articles per month. A subscription to Medium costs $50 per year, but then provides unlimited access to the content generated by all authors. Authors wanting to earn money from their work on Substack typically offer some content for free, but also put content behind a subscription paywall. The balance between free and paid is up to the author. Subscriptions to the work of individual authors vary in annual cost, but $50 is probably a reasonable estimate for purposes of platform comparisons.

I think the choice comes down to how much value you place in the work of an individual author. I think about a $50 subscription in comparison to how many Kindle books I could buy for this investment. I purchase probably one Kindle book a month and I also have an audiobook annual subscription that also requires the purchase of one book a month. I find the lengthy consideration of an issue provided by a single author integrated as a book preferable to following say the work of a blogger who likely mixes multiple topics over an extended period of time. I can purchase three Kindle books for each Substack author I might follow. For the same expenditure, I can read as many of the Medium posts from any writer I want to follow. 

I have no idea what the monetary advantages to an author would be on Medium versus Substack. I am certain individuals who seek revenue from their posts have examined this issue carefully. My guess would be that “popular” writers would prefer Substack and those wanting to make some money but who lack a large following would prefer Medium. 

A more interesting question is what do readers prefer. There is plenty to read on Substack without a subscription to a Substack author, but for the cost of one Substack subscription I can read the work of all Medium contributors. Part of the issue here is what is the quality or value of what is available on Medium and how does a reader reach a decision about the value of complete access when a prospective reader is allowed to review a very limited number of offerings each month. 

I have a couple of subscriptions on Substack and I have a Medium subscription. I like the idea of micropayments which is what Medium appears to support. Writers receive more revenue when more readers access and read their work. In comparison to an ad-based model, I like the micropayment approach. 

I always run into a problem of the consideration of multiple characteristics when I am making a decision regarding online services. Often, each option has some specific things I like and some I do not. This is a good example of such a conundrum. Maybe I should turn the issue around a make statement to authors. I like some of your content, but not well enough to add you to those I subscribe to on Substack. For me, you would get some of my “reading money” if you put your content on Medium.

I should add one caveat. I think I understand the pricing options offered by these two platforms. As a writer, I don’t have enough experience to know for certain. I welcome corrections if I have something wrong.

I recently read what I found to be a depressing account of the future of AI by Deepmind founder Mustafa Suleyman (The Coming Wave). The author examines developments in synthetic biology and artificial intelligence concluding that despite the obvious advantages of both fields (and the interaction of these two technologies) both areas are advancing in capabilities and applications so rapidly that serious dangers are very difficult to address. 

When I say depressing, I mean that ways to address the negative potential of these fields seem unavoidable. His explanation of the dangers made a solid case. Both fields have escaped the typically slow pace of academic research labs and are being developed by commercial entities. The money required for the infrastructure and personnel requirements are beyond the reach of even the most elite universities. These organizations are in a breakneck race to control the market with huge revenue opportunities in the balance. Whether or not our government will step in to establish regulations and monitoring to require careful consideration of dangers, the governments in other countries will not have the same motives and see these fields as key to international power. 

While bigger is one of the characteristics creating this challenge, smaller also contributes. While large corporations or even nations create the tools of AI and synthetic biology, the use of these tools once available is in control of individuals. Many will have the capabilities to implement uses of AI and synthetic biology.

The recent OpenAI upheaval seems an example of some of these issues in action. OpenAI originated in part to provide an alternative to the efforts of big corporations. Even as a well-funded nonprofit, OpenAI sought additional funding opportunities in part leading to disagreements between the board and key personnel. It seemed AI innovation would continue no matter any position taken by OpenAI and just to remain a credible option to the efforts of huge established companies, OpenAI must sell products and make its products more adaptable to the interests of individual users.

It has been a crazy week for OpenAI and ChatGPT. Sam Altman announces customizable GPTs and then he gets let go by his board. I have no idea if these events are related and information is scarce. It appears that Altman may be negotiating with the board so it is difficult to know what to expect.

I am very interested in the new GPT opportunities. I have found applying an AI client to investigate content I specify to be one of the most immediate opportunities and this appears to be the benefit of some of the customizations. You do need to pay for the $20 a month plan to apply any of these options. When I tried I found that the system is overloaded and interested users are now on a waiting list.

I am making a change to the collection of resources I share with readers. Since I began operating a server, I have been collecting bookmarks for my own use and I have shared most of these resources in one way or another. Folks who read one of my blogs may have missed this effort as it appears on my general home page. The following shows the updated home page with the area containing the link to my new social bookmarking effort surrounded by the red box.

The old collection of bookmarks was huge and possibly still useful. It did contain many bookmarks to sites that were no longer active. I have decided to move on to a new service and identify newer material I have been reading.

The new system, called Memex, attempts to encourage sharing individual links or collections of links. The collections are labeled as spaces. Because Memex allows access to individual spaces, but not the entire collection, I have had to create a workaround. I have created a page with links to the different collections I am developing and this is the page I link from my home page.

Within a given collection, you will find links to articles and a way to access an AI generated summary of that article and my individual highlights/notes. The following image shows what you would see while exploring a given collection. Memex is not the only bookmarking system I use, but I will use it more consistently now that I am sharing these bookmarks.