# [Regarding – and, Well, Against – Substack](https://daringfireball.net/2024/11/regarding_and_well_against_substack#fnr1-2024-11-20) by John Gruber > "What I object to isn’t their laissez faire approach to who they allow to publish on their platform, but rather how they present all publications. People do call the publications on Substack “Substacks”. And Substack publications do all look the same, most of them right down to that telltale serif typeface, Spectral,[^1] which is kerned so loosely it looks like teeth in need of orthodontia. It’s not an ugly font, per se, but it is very distinctive, which contributes, I think significantly, to the blurring of the branding line between Substack publications as discrete standalone independent entities or as mere sections under “Substack” as an umbrella publication. > > Substack, very deliberately, has from the get-go tried to have it both ways. They say that publications on their platform are independent voices and brands. But they present them all as parts of Substack. They all look alike, and they all look like “Substack”. I really don’t get why any writer trying to establish themselves independently would farm out their own brand this way. It’s the illusion of independence." I agree with Gruber top to bottom. I don't understand why an author, writer, reporter, would give away so much of their identity to a platform; to have their writing thrown into the melting pot of "Substacks." I do understand the ease, brand-recognition, etc., but isn't that cost too high? Is boxing yourself in worth the convenience? I just helped my mother unsubscribe from a newsletter on Substack and hoooooo boy do they make that difficult. Substack makes it difficult, not the author. As a writer, online publishing dude, and [[Memory Card#What is **Memory Card**?|newsletter]] writer myself, I don't want to increase the friction to unsubscribe, whether that'd cost me money or not. I want your experience reading and interacting with my work to be as smooth as possible—that includes leaving. I recommend using [Buttondown](https://buttondown.com), if you want a newsletter. I would never recommend Substack. [^1]: "A free Google font, which says something about Substack." Figured I'd include Gruber's—aka the font savant's— footnote too.