Tell Me Why? (ain't nothin' but a substack...)

Dude, bro, bub, manchild, broman, dudebro, bubba cakes - "why the f#$k did you even make a substack for?" (also PAX Unplugged, also Drugula)

Top 3 Topics of the Day:

1. Substack -vs- All Y’all

2. PAX Unplugged Giveaway

3. Drag, Filth, Horror, Glamour

Topic 1 - Substack -vs- All Y’all

So I started a substack for a few reasons, including having a steadfast resource for my writing/tips/musings and being able to link to a blog rather than a thread of tweets that may or may not have been picked up by Albert Gore Rhythm (aka the big enigmatic algorithm). Let me take some time to talk about the differences between other social platforms vs substack.

Breaking Down Platforms like Xitter, IG, or Bluesky
Your audience “follows” you, but think of it as a casual, passive relationship.
Post → Algorithm picks it up (paid/”for you”/timing) → Open System

With this being in an “Open System” after an algorithm sweep (maybe you go viral, maybe it’s a flop), your post sits there, openly, on your page that may or may not be discovered or stumbled on later on down the road (or maybe never as older posts push it down the timeline). This may result in inconsistent and low analytics with engagement and interactions but may skew towards high impression numbers.

However, having a casual and passive relationship is much easier to uphold so the perceived “stakes” of choosing to follow you are lower. Because of this, it may be easier to amass followers across these social platforms, especially in regards to “going viral” for a single post, gaining a boatload of followers not in your “niche” and them not caring after they realize your random sh*tpost isn’t your regularly scheduled content within your chosen “niche”. These casual followers may be unreliable due to their passive behavior, the algorithm not playing nice, or open systems just being such vast, open systems.

Breaking Down a Platform Like Substack (E-mail/Subscriber-based)
Your audience chose to subscribe, consenting to getting notifications via e-mail or the app, providing a more active relationship.
Post → Direct to subscribers (email/app notification) → Closed System

Compared to something more passive, having a more active relationship where the perceived “stakes” of subscribing are higher. This is because the followers explicitly choose to get notified of your writing and your blog in their inbox. Simply put, their “buy-in” is much greater, which means they’re more invested than the normal followers you may have. Given the fact that they chose to consent toward a more intimate setting rather than relying on the algorithm as casual followers, these community members are farther along the funnel from being an audience to being an advocate (put a pin in this; we’ll revisit funnels in a future post) and have taken that step towards “buying into” what you’re selling (aka what you’re doing aka starting a subscriber-based substack).

These types of connections and advocates of your community take time to build trust and are not in abundance as passive followers, meaning it may be harder to get a “boatload of followers” in a closed system. But you may notice that they’re the ones that comment or repost more, or advocate for you in spaces and share your posts around even without being asked with a CTA (call to action). However, a closed system is inherently much harder to “go viral” or have random discoveries from an unsuspected audience because it’s held within a fixed number of subscribers rather than beboppn’ out in the ether.

Hopefully, that makes sense (especially with my cute little visuals) and gives you enough context to see the difference between substack/subscriber-based platforms vs “the rest of ‘em”. Should you start your own? That may have to take a future post…

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Topic 2 - PAX Unplugged Giveaway

After 1 week in San Francisco, 2 weeks in Los Angeles with the boy, and 1 more week in NYC for Comic Con, I’m finally back in Central Florida (boo, I know, Florida… but I do love being “home”).

Alas, there’s no rest for the wicked! The fine folks over at PAX Unplugged gave me five 3-Day passes to give away (valued at $85) - and yes I’ll be there! The dates of the convention are December 1st through December 3rd, 2023.

I opened up a giveaway on my Xwitter, Bsky, and Facebook (quick tip: I just learned so maybe you may not know either… to isolate a Facebook post’s URL click on the time stamp below your name of the post and it’ll open up to another tab you can copy/paste from). So, if you want your chance to win, just head over to those links!

I love PAX Unplugged. It’s a great convention filled with board games and TTRPGs. Be on the lookout for an announcement about my final schedule/panels as the con gets closer. But yeah, Philly has Reading Terminal Market with great food. And I get to see old friends and meet new ones. OH! and the Big Gay Dinner hosted by the Rose Gauntlet Foundation. Ugh, I can’t wait (though it’ll be cold, huh…)! Lemme know if you’re going!

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Topic 3 - Drag, Filth, Horror, Glamour

OK I LOVE SPOOKY STUFF YEAR ROUND BUT THE FALL SEASON IS JUST SO COZY AND CREEPY AND COOL AND MACABRE AND GORGEOUS AND MELANCHOLY AND — * DEEP BREATH * —

So yeah, I love this time of the year. I’m a huge horror fan, I’m a fan of the weather change, I’m a fan of football season (Go Dawgs! Also, does anyone play fantasy?), and I’m a fan of Halloween escapades.

This year so far, I’ve been to Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando, the 17th Door in Los Angeles, and Dracula: A Comedy of Terror in NYC.

Also, programming is always good (here’s looking at you Over the Garden Wall and Haunting of Hill House). However one of my favorite shows is premiering on Halloween Day, October 31st, and that’s the Boulet Brother’s Dragula! It’s a drag competition that is upheld by its three tenets of Filth, Horror, and Glamour. I love that it’s a very inclusive drag show that’s not reserved for cis-men and I love the punk rock and alternative side of drag.

I’m super stoked to say that one of my friends, Blackberri, the Bearded Queen of Houston TX, is on this season! And from first impressions, I’ll name my early top 3 that get me excited:

1. Blackberri

2. Niohuru X

3. Jarvis Hammer

(and an honorable mention to Throb Zombie!)

PHOTO: SCOTT KIRBY/AMC+

I gotta know: do you watch Dragula? Do you have any past favorites? How about for this season? Let’s talk drag, filth, horror, and glamour!

And that’s a wrap for my first “official” post! Three topics and my two cents and rambling. If you made it through the whole post, please leave a comment and say hi! I’m always open to your opinions about DIGITAL THICCNESS and how you’re enjoying it (or maybe not so much - and that’s okay). Drop a note about what you wanna see more of or less of and let’s talk about all the things!

Until next time!

Stay strong. Stay thicc. *Big hug*