I see Substacks where the writer proudly displays their subscriber count, posting screenshots as proof that they have made it past 10 or a hundred or a thousand - or whatever - subscribers.
A paid subscriber is headline news.
No criticism of those who do this. I understand exactly how ego-boosting it is to have other human beings pay attention and to revel in the numbers.
I won’t do this. Not because I don’t admire and appreciate my subscribers - a mix of free and paid, I am glad to say - but because I don’t see each subscriber as just another number.
Every subscriber is a human being the same as myself. We differ in some ways, we are exactly the same in others but there is a bond between us that I see as more than transactional.
It is the same emotion that I feel when I subscribe - my own mix of free and paid - to another’s Substack.
I see you. I want to know more. I like your stuff. Please keep writing it. Thank you.
Maybe I’m writing for one person, maybe a thousand. It doesn’t matter. I’m happy either way.
The same light that illuminates my awareness shines out of everyone reading this. My thoughts are running through your mind.
And when you comment, or restack with a note, or send me a message, your thoughts dance through my mind.
I feel connected, embraced, valued.
As I do about you, Dear Reader.
Thank you!
Britni
Nice point. I see that it is a way of honouring the subscribers but I also see we can get carried away with the numbers.