Paid or open comments on Substack?
Paid-only comments work far better for some writers than open comments
Earlier today, I ran into a post on Notes that I found irritating and silly. I am not going to link to the post as I do not wish to cause the writer who said it any distress, but this is basically what she said:
Paid-only comments are used by writers who only want to hear from people who agree with them.
Since there are undoubtedly some writers who agree with her, let me present the case for keeping comments paid-only.
Here are a few reasons why some writers (like me) have their comments set to paid subscribers only:
Some writers do not have the time to moderate many comments (this is part of my reason). We are very busy and cannot spend time constantly watching for inappropriate comments. I earn most of my living off of Substack, and when I get home, I have very little time left in the day to write. That time is precious to me, and I don’t want to waste it dealing with problematic comments.
Paid comments are also a great benefit for paid subscribers. These are people who have opened their wallets to support writers, and they deserve the ability to post comments without having them lost in a cloud of comments posted by people who are not paying the writer.
Paid-only comments allow the writer to devote more of his or her attention to responding to the people who are paying to support them. This means a more personal kind of interaction between the writer and his or her paid subscribers.
Substack’s growth has resulted in a huge influx of new accounts, and some of them post spam, drive-by comments, threats of violence, and other unacceptable content. I do not want any of it in my comment sections.
When comments are open to everybody, the writer must pay careful attention to what is posted in his or her comment sections. You never know who is going to show up and what they are going to post. This can include government agencies such as the FBI or their paid ops people, as I discussed in the article linked in this sentence.
That other writer’s attitude is also an insult to paid subscribers, as it presumes that all of them agree with the Substack writer that they are supporting with a paid subscription. This is offensive as well as silly. My paid subscribers certainly do not agree with me about everything, nor would I want them to do so. I value their disagreement, as it is sometimes very helpful to me as a writer, and sometimes I also learn something from them.
Also, if someone cannot afford a subscription, a writer can also comp them so they can participate in article discussions. I have a blend of paid and comped people in my comments. I make the best effort I can to ensure that a range of viewpoints are represented when people feel like they want to comment on an article.
So, if you see somebody babbling that paid comments are used by writers who “only want to hear from people who agree with them,” you now know that that attitude is complete bullshit, and likely said by somebody who has been tossed out of other writers' comment sections. Or perhaps they are angry because they cannot access a writer’s comments to promote their substack? 🤔
As for me, I have experimented with open comments and paid comments, and paid comments work best for me. Every single time I have kept the comments open, I have had to deal with undesirables of one kind or another showing up. That means that I have to take time away from writing to moderate the comments and, in some cases, ban the user so they don’t come back.
As soon as I turned on paid and comped-only comments, all the commenting headaches disappeared. It was like a weight off my back, and I now focus my attention on responding to my paid and comped subscribers. Without being distracted by spam, drive-bys, fake Nazi messages posted by government operators, and the rest of the nonsense that goes with open comments,. I also have more time to focus on writing content for my subscribers.
I hope that this article clears up this issue and clarifies why some of us prefer to keep our comment sections open to paid and comped users, and not every person on Substack. We get plenty of dissent and discussion without having to deal with the bullshit that goes with open comments.
If open comments work for you, then more power to you. I wish you well.
UPDATE: One other point I forgot to make: Since Substack added Notes, readers who are not paid subscribers can comment on Notes about articles too. So Notes provides an additional, free discussion option for anyone who wishes to make use of it.
How you can support my writing
Please share this post
All contributions from readers are greatly appreciated. Thanks! 👍🏻 💀
This argument makes sense to me. Occasionally I might really want to comment on an article that is closed to unpaid subscribers. However, if I REALLY wanted to comment that bad I would probably at least check to see if I could do a monthly subscription to try it out. I cannot subscribe to every writer that I like. I wish that I could. I am reading some really good Substack for free. I am so grateful to be able to partake. I do not mind if I cannot comment. Just getting the experience of reading so much good stuff is exhilarating! Thank you to all Substack writers. You are appreciated!
I find your argument for pay-to-comment eminently reasonable. It's not something I personally like, and it's not something I ever want to do, but if my articles start getting overwhelmed with trolls, I can see myself doing exactly the same thing.
One thing I never see myself doing is making the articles themselves pay-to-READ. I am no well-known journalist like Matt Taibbi and I will most likely always have another source of income, even it is just a measly pension and diluted Social Security benefits.
So far I can handle the trolls--my experience as a moderator on a now-defunct political discussion forum actually lets me ENJOY taunting or banning them for the now--and will let free comments continue, but I do promise to stop judging Substackers who have a comment paywall.