Staff Writer: Skyler Pereyra
Email: spereyra@umassd.edu
X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are the biggest social media platforms of this generation, yet there is a movement to boycott these apps due to their toxic multi-millionaire owners behind the scenes controlling what users can do.
Elon Musk purchased X, formerly known as Twitter, back in October 2022, closing the deal at $44 billion. Since his purchase, the app has become unrecognizable to users. Plus, with his involvement in the United States Government, users are becoming increasingly aware of the power he holds with owning the app.
Similarly, Mark Zuckerberg owns both Facebook and Instagram through his company, Meta. Facebook has become a cesspool of AI slop and far-right political messages being thrown in users’ faces.
Just recently, Tik Tok went through a major event where it was to be banned in the United States; however President Donald Trump “saved” the app by delaying the ban to allow “non-Chinese investors in ByteDance to increase their stakes and acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations.”
With all of these corrupt billionaires trying to control the way information is consumed, how are people combating this?
Of course, some people are boycotting the apps entirely by deleting them and taking time to enjoy life without social media. Others are turning to alternative apps such as Bluesky to replace X and Xiaohongshu, a Chinese app, to replace TikTok.
However, a new app is on the rise: Substack.
Launched in 2017, Substack is a writing-focused platform that allows writers to post their works either for free, for a fee through subscribers, or a mix of both using a paywall.
Substack’s slogan is “Building a new economic engine for culture,” where scholars, experts, and academics can publish work straight to the public.
The app is relatively simple: you follow or subscribe to content creators who post thoughtful and well-researched articles in your field of interest. Some creators offer newsletters while others upload podcasts or creative stories.
Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg recently joined the app and uploaded an article titled “I’m Not Running in 2026, But I Am Getting to Work,” where he provided a recap of some of the things he has been up to since leaving office.
Buttigieg explained that he will be “spending more time engaging both legacy and digital media in the service of a politics of everyday life, rooted in the values of freedom, security, and democracy.”
A major former politician’s usage of Substack to connect with audiences who feel isolated from the current political situation shows how Substack can become a new social media platform that can rival X and Tik Tok.
As someone who uses the app themselves, I can see why so many people have started using Substack.
Instead of feeling like I am doom-scrolling and wasting my time on useless content, I feel like I am learning valuable information from people who truly care about knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
One article I enjoyed reading is a part of Linda Caroll’s newsletter, History of Women, which has amassed over 2,000 subscribers. In “The Young Girl Who Married A Monster And Inspired A Disney Fairy Tale,” Caroll tells the real story Beauty and the Beast is based on (which I had no idea was an adaptation of a historical moment).
She details the life of Pedro Gonzalez who was born with congenital hypertrichosis terminalis, a condition that involves excessive hair growth throughout the entire body. At 10 years old, he was given to King Henry II as a gift who ended up raising him as a son until his death.
Queen Catherine de’ Medici inherited Gonzalez and realized she could turn him into a commodity and wondered if she could reproduce his genetic condition by “breeding the beast.” She ordered all the servants to bring their daughters to find the prettiest girl to become his partner.
I don’t want to spoil the rest of the story, but the point I want to make is that Substack is filled with content other social media apps can’t rival with.
Many users are current and former professors, Ph.D candidates at elite universities, and everyday people who have stories and knowledge to share with the world.
Do you think Substack can become the next big thing?