> If you’re a paid subscriber, I’d love to hear how important you find the ability to comment on these essays in a direct and public way
It's something I value; I like the informal opportunity to potentially interact, both with you and potentially with other people in comments. (Let's be honest, I just desperately miss livejournal, and a tumblr-style question box is not something I would likely submit anything to.) That said, while I would *miss* that feature and it would move your newsletter out of my mental 'potentially social' bucket into my 'purely to be consumed as a relatively passive audience' bucket which would probably result in my reading it less often because often that feels like a chore (sorry, but being brutally honest about how my brain works here because you asked) and that would be a bit sad, a) that's a me problem and is not your problem, b) I am not settled into interacting with you and your other subscribers in this space since it's so new anyway, and most importantly c) I would not feel like I was somehow no longer receiving something of value in exchange for my subscription. I wish to support your writing monetarily, so I subscribed. Getting to comment on a blog-esque thing is entirely a bonus from my perspective.
And I certainly understand and support the substack exodus!!
Firstly I want to say that this newsletter made me reconsider my long-held determination to not read Proust (a result of frustration with his centrality to my particular branch of academia). Secondly, I'm paying because I want to read all the things you write. As long as I get to read all the things, I don't mind if other people get to comment, or also get to read the things! I'm just happy to be here.
> If you’re a paid subscriber, I’d love to hear how important you find the ability to comment on these essays in a direct and public way
To be perfectly honest, because I read your updates/essays in my email, I am going to forget that there _is_ an option to comment unless you bring it up in the post.
I'm here because I like what you write, and I'm interested in what you have to say. I'm a paid subscriber because I happen to have a little extra money right now and I like supporting creatives whose work I love; anything else I might get access to is a bonus. Please choose the option that makes your life easiest/most comfortable.
> If you’re a paid subscriber, I’d love to hear how important you find the ability to comment on these essays in a direct and public way
For me, personally, this is not an important consideration. I don't often have much to add to a conversation (he said, in the second reply to the post), and when I do I'm happy to let the audience be whatever it is. More important to me as a paid subscriber is the comfort of the creator I'm supporting. The reason I participate in this and other direct-support models is less about the perks than it is about wanting to make some small contribution to make that person's creative life easier, which ends up benefiting me because I get more of the creator's work that has been meaningful to me.
But that's just like, my opinion, man. As you decide where if/where you want to move, just keep us in the loop, and I'll mosey on over.
Thank you for this, Max. Sometimes there's some writing that a person doesn't know they needed desperately to read until they've read it. Something about what you said here is giving my mind both more light and more breathing room. Useful, those.
> If you’re a paid subscriber, I’d love to hear how important you find the ability to comment on these essays in a direct and public way
It's something I value; I like the informal opportunity to potentially interact, both with you and potentially with other people in comments. (Let's be honest, I just desperately miss livejournal, and a tumblr-style question box is not something I would likely submit anything to.) That said, while I would *miss* that feature and it would move your newsletter out of my mental 'potentially social' bucket into my 'purely to be consumed as a relatively passive audience' bucket which would probably result in my reading it less often because often that feels like a chore (sorry, but being brutally honest about how my brain works here because you asked) and that would be a bit sad, a) that's a me problem and is not your problem, b) I am not settled into interacting with you and your other subscribers in this space since it's so new anyway, and most importantly c) I would not feel like I was somehow no longer receiving something of value in exchange for my subscription. I wish to support your writing monetarily, so I subscribed. Getting to comment on a blog-esque thing is entirely a bonus from my perspective.
And I certainly understand and support the substack exodus!!
Firstly I want to say that this newsletter made me reconsider my long-held determination to not read Proust (a result of frustration with his centrality to my particular branch of academia). Secondly, I'm paying because I want to read all the things you write. As long as I get to read all the things, I don't mind if other people get to comment, or also get to read the things! I'm just happy to be here.
> If you’re a paid subscriber, I’d love to hear how important you find the ability to comment on these essays in a direct and public way
To be perfectly honest, because I read your updates/essays in my email, I am going to forget that there _is_ an option to comment unless you bring it up in the post.
I'm here because I like what you write, and I'm interested in what you have to say. I'm a paid subscriber because I happen to have a little extra money right now and I like supporting creatives whose work I love; anything else I might get access to is a bonus. Please choose the option that makes your life easiest/most comfortable.
> If you’re a paid subscriber, I’d love to hear how important you find the ability to comment on these essays in a direct and public way
For me, personally, this is not an important consideration. I don't often have much to add to a conversation (he said, in the second reply to the post), and when I do I'm happy to let the audience be whatever it is. More important to me as a paid subscriber is the comfort of the creator I'm supporting. The reason I participate in this and other direct-support models is less about the perks than it is about wanting to make some small contribution to make that person's creative life easier, which ends up benefiting me because I get more of the creator's work that has been meaningful to me.
But that's just like, my opinion, man. As you decide where if/where you want to move, just keep us in the loop, and I'll mosey on over.
Thank you for this, Max. Sometimes there's some writing that a person doesn't know they needed desperately to read until they've read it. Something about what you said here is giving my mind both more light and more breathing room. Useful, those.
I wave at you across the distance.