Why Do People Prefer My Old Blog's Layout To Substack's?
This keeps coming up. When I was first considering moving to Substack, I asked my readers what they thought. They thought various things, but one of them was they hated the layout. At some point I turned this into a formal survey, and: …yep, they preferred the SSC layout Last summer, I repeated the experiment, this time after I had made the switch: Last month, I wrote a post called Why Do I Suck, which discussed some people’s complaints about the blog. In the comments, lots of people said their main complaint was that Substack’s design was worse than SSC’s. EG: I think that all of this together is pretty strong evidence that most people prefer the old Slate Star Codex layout to the new Substack-mandated ACX. This is weird, because the old Slate Star Codex layout was - mostly something I threw together in a day or two. I am widely recognized as not having taste, and the only website I ever developed before this was a Geocities site that was even worse. A few of my web designer friends helpfully smoothed over some rough edges (in one case literally, Apple-style), but the basic design remained my amateurish rush job. Meanwhile, Substack is run by tech industry veterans who probably hired a team of really experienced designers and thought really hard about every aspect of their product. It doesn’t make any sense at all for me to do a better job than them. So what’s going on? Is it selection bias? My previous readership is, by definition, people who liked my old blog, so of course they like my old blog more than some new one? I’m including this because I know someone will bring it up in the comments if I don’t, but it seems unlikely; surely most people selected themselves in for the content, with the design a distant second. Is it something something mobile? I put no effort into optimizing my old design for mobile phones, so maybe that adds another layer of complexity. But I think at some point some web designer friend made a version that worked for mobile, so this can’t be too hard. Is the dichotomy not me vs. Substack, but WordPress (also a great tech company) vs. Substack? I think this explains some of it. But some of the people in the comments talked about the colors and layout in particular. Substack probably remembers the history of MySpace vs. Facebook. MySpace let people customize their page however they wanted, and most people made them into some sort of <blink>-tag-related monstrosity. Facebook gave everyone a consistent minimalist design that let people focus on the content, and took over the world. I’m not (exactly) questioning Substack’s decision not to make blog layout very customizable. But how come their standard non-customizable layout is (apparently) worse than my old layout? If they forced everyone into the standard non-customizable layout of 2015 SSC, would that be a straight utility gain? This may be a little too cute, but I can’t help but think of Whither Tartaria? In every art form, complicated colorful designs transition to “modern” minimalist designs over time. Whenever anyone asks, people say they hate the modern minimalist designs and wish they could go back to the complicated colorful ones. But for some reason nobody ever does. Is this just the Internet version of the same general phenomenon? You’re a free subscriber to Astral Codex Ten. For the full experience, become a paid subscriber. |
Older messages
Every Bay Area House Party
Wednesday, May 4, 2022
...
Open Thread 222
Sunday, May 1, 2022
...
Highlights From The Comments On Xi Jinping
Thursday, April 28, 2022
...
Book Review: A Clinical Introduction To Lacanian Psychoanalysis
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
...
Open Thread 221
Sunday, April 24, 2022
...
You Might Also Like
🕐 Time Is Running Out: Your $99 Offer Expires In 48 Hours
Thursday, April 25, 2024
This advisory has returned a massive 838% since inception compared to the 273% return from the S&P 500 Final 48 Hours Fellow Investor, We recently sent you an exclusive offer to try our flagship
The Professor Protesting Columbia’s Own Students
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Columns and commentary on news, politics, business, and technology from the Intelligencer team. Intelligencer THURSDAY, APRIL 25 The Professor Protesting Columbia's Own Students Shai Davidai, a
Before you lose your phone ...
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Do these things now ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Friday Briefing: Supreme Court hears Trump immunity case
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Also, more bodies found in a Gazan mass grave. View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story Ad Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition April 26, 2024 Author Headshot By Amelia Nierenberg
Microsoft results beat quarterly expectations as profits rise 20% to nearly $22B
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Breaking News from GeekWire GeekWire.com | View in browser BREAKING NEWS Microsoft posted a 17% increase in revenue, to $61.9 billion, with $21.9 billion in profits, up 20%, and earnings of $2.94 per
The Dark Side of Immune
Thursday, April 25, 2024
SCOTUS and Why It's Good to be the King ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Techie-turned-lawmaker uses Microsoft chops as state senator | ‘Acquired’ podcast hosts raising fund
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Amazon to stream Seattle Kraken games | Impinj stock soars | 'Good to Go!' scam warning ADVERTISEMENT GeekWire SPONSOR MESSAGE: Science Firsthand: Learn how Bristol Myers Squibb unlocked the
RIP, NBA Dynasties
Thursday, April 25, 2024
View in your browser Twitter Facebook Instagram Share | Subscribe The Ringer April 25, 2024 Happy NFL draft day to all who celebrate. NBA Getty Images/Ringer illustration For the past five years, there
☕ Fast, casual
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Inside Cava's social media strategy. April 25, 2024 Marketing Brew PRESENTED BY Delta American Express Today is Thursday. After President Biden signed the TikTok ban into law yesterday, CEO Shou
☕ Spend but don’t break
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Debt is rising, but consumers are still spending. April 25, 2024 Retail Brew Hello, it's Thursday. The US economy grew at 1.6% in the first quarter, the latest data from the Commerce Department