How To Curate Your Feed Civily

A friend on Substack asked me how to curate her feed. It takes time. First decide what’s important to you. Is humor, literature, politics, art, photography? Then research by finding one well-known person you trust or read in the paper. Look at who they trust. Perhaps you’ll see other names you already know and trust. If not, research.

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

Read rather than comment before you get too involved with the wrong people: yes, there are shysters even on Substack. These people follow hundreds of people when you look at their profiles, post little themselves, and subscribe to few or just to Substack. Then there are people who insert themselves into your notifications like you commented when you didn’t! Mute or block people you didn’t invite. That’s how you begin to curate your feed.

For example, I began with 3 favorite professors that I knew were 100% real and darn intelligent. For a while, months I recall, I read only those writers daily. I watched who on Substack also liked and quoted them. I waited until I read a couple of new writers who loved my favorite writers. I followed, them first and later subscribed to them. The total was 5.

Since August 2023 I’ve added, followed and unfollowed people, subscribed and unsubscribed. That’s curated my feed. In this order I’m interested in politics, poetry, art, comedy, animals, photography, and human interest stories. You won’t read any sports stories or how to cook stories on my Blue Notes.

So, when you’ve been on Substack several months, you may notice some trollers that need to be outed and blocked. Don’t hesitate! Putting out “bait” helps identify trollers. Go fishing often.

If you’re really fed up with trollers during this important election year, put your bait out. Most trollers cannot resist responding to any idea not their own. I’m a Democrat, pro-Biden-Harris, pro-Democracy, and I get Republican trollers who want to use my posts as springboards to their maga-Trump anti-Biden tirades. I’m outing them here and will save you time by blocking them. Be pro-active in assisting good writers by protecting all serious writers here.

Curate your feed by researching and blocking the malicious trollers slowly but often. You will deserve a medal 🏅