To Share, or Not
A Question of Whether to Follow the Rules...or Not
Over fifteen years ago I started participating in a March daily challenge on a writing blog for teachers BEFORE I had a blog. The first year I sent the organizer emails to “count” as my posts. The author chooses to follow whatever format they want for the month but the basic idea is to post a daily slice of life. During the March challenge, many of us play with formats we borrow from other writers and then link to their blogs. I have posted daily in March and linked to the website every year since. I comment on at least three other blogs and there is a rich community of teacher writers there.
I switched my main platform to Substack for various reasons including ease of posting and the number of readers. No one was reading posts on Wordpress, even my most popular Sunday Coffee Share. When I linked my Substack posts on the teacher site I received an email from the organizer saying that if I wanted to participate in the sharing, I had to use my Wordpress account.
One - I don’t like being told what to do, and
Two - Substack is a blog platform.
The main complaint was a free account was required in order to read the posts and comment (which is part of the challenge). I pointed out in my reply that other “approved” blog platforms (like Blogspot) required the same. It is standard procedure so people don’t get too ballsy with their comments being anonymous. Over the years, I had to sign up for free accounts in order to read other teacher’s posts - why was an exception being made for Substack?
I recognize it is their challenge and they make the rules, but I also don’t have to follow them. It did make me sad that I had participated for over 15 years and had to make a choice. It didn’t feel like a FOMO situation.
Last year I posted on both platforms.
The challenge begins on Saturday and I am faced with the decision to participate in 2025. I did not fill out the form this year. I unsubscribed from the site’s emails last year but still check in on some Tuesdays. The only reason I do not delete the Wordpress account is my publications are linked on a page.
I play with form, and reunite with people who only blog during that month, but the time to cross-post seems like a waste. I could post on the Wordpress and ignore the Substack, but that doesn’t feel right either. I have linked the Substack in the Wordpress post with the tag, “Read this on Substack here…”
Even though I retired from teaching in the public schools I still feel this group of teacher writers are my community. Just typing that statement feels like it should be an easy decision, but there is still resistance. Maybe it is a question of whether I feel I belong in that “room” still… I still have a few days to decide. If you have a strong opinion [or even a mild one] I would love to hear it!
That’s a really tough situation. Letting go and moving on can be hard, but sometimes it leads to exciting new opportunities. Just know that there are many of us out here who would gladly welcome you as part of our community if you’re feeling lost
I can't speak to the personal nature of this decision obviously, but it does seem to me on a conceptual level that "voting with your feet" is sometimes necessary to motivate the outcome you want. If enough people leave this group, the organizers will have to adapt.