01/27/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17egVrkjLS/
Why Don’t I Use the “Subscribe” Link?
I have used it a few times. Mostly, I don’t think about it.
It’s the same way I sell my jewelry on the street: I give away more than I sell. I want people to have the work. I don’t do what I do for material gain. I do it because I love doing it. My view numbers are already above average for the amount of time I’ve been doing this, and that is reward enough.
People occasionally ask why I don’t consistently include calls to subscribe, follow, or “support the channel.”
My website blog gets more views than my Substack, but I don’t market my work for attention. The purpose isn’t audience accumulation; it’s legitimacy.
The work exists as a public record of analytical capability — evidence of method, discipline, and judgment — not as a funnel optimized for engagement. Visibility matters only insofar as it establishes that the work is read, circulated, and taken seriously by real people.
In that sense, view counts function less as “reach” and more as proof-of-work. They demonstrate that the analysis is intelligible, sustained, and credible enough to hold attention without being packaged for it. That matters more to my perceived hireability than follower totals or platform loyalty.
The answer is simple: it isn’t how I think about the work, the reader, or the relationship between them.
I don’t produce content to harvest attention. I produce analysis and writing because the subject matter demands to be examined, documented, and made intelligible. If the work is useful, rigorous, or clarifying, people who want to stay will do so without being prompted. If it isn’t, no call-to-action will fix that.
I know I could push for explicit reader loyalty, but that isn’t my reward. My reward is the numbers themselves.
Subscription prompts are a behavioral device. They interrupt cognition and replace judgment with habit. That may be effective for growth metrics, but it subtly alters the posture of the work—from something offered on its own merits to something asking for compliance with a system.
I’m not opposed to people subscribing. I am opposed to training myself to ask an algorithm for legitimacy rather than earn it from the reader.
Yes, I’m aware — peak nerd behavior.
If you find value here, subscribing keeps the work visible over time. If you don’t, you owe nothing. Either way, the work stands or fails on its own.
That is intentional.
