The new kid on the block is seeking advice

I feel blessed after just a month to have gathered 27,000 subscribers which seems nuts to me, but I'll take it.

As I said at the outset of my journey on Substack, I’m not a political scientist, a political strategist or a journalist. I’m just a guy with a passion for equity and social justice who loves to write. To now be included in the top 100 Substack list of US Politics is truly humbling and it’s you the readers that put me in that position which I fully intend to build on.

It’s been quite an adjustment, to pick key topics and share my perspective each day. I have always believed knowledge is power. My 65 years on this planet attending the University of life daily, has taught me many things, the most important of which is to never to take people for granted.

I think everyone should have to earn the respect of others. I had been closely following US politics since Trump first was elected. I remember in 2016 being one of the few voices in the UK saying ‘This lunatic could win” And so it came to pass. Four years later, this was the first political short film I ever created.

Four years on, my journey into American politics began shortly after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, when I made this short film to express how I felt in that moment. While you can’t view this directly within substack, I would highly recommend you take a moment to watch it, because it truly was the writing on the wall for where we are today.

At that time, I had just 200 followers on Twitter as it was then. This was long before the days of Elon Musk, when it was the bastion of left leaning political conversation. Let me tell you, it was a hostile environment for a Brit commentating on US politics. I lost count of the number of times I was told by Democrats to keep my nose out, I had no idea what I was talking about. This film broke down some of the barriers, but followers were hard to attract and many were the days when I considered throwing in the towel, muttering “ungrateful bastards” under my breath.

Slowly but surely, I was accepted into the fold and given a voice in the conversation. I went on to produce numerous ads for the Biden Harris campaign on social media, which culminated in this joyous contribution the day Biden was declared President. If you do get chance to watch it, make sure you watch it right to the very end beyond the initial fade.

One thing I have learned in the course of my 5 year long internship, is that building the trust and confidence of your audience is hard earned and easily lost. I now enjoy a much large audience on X as it has become. I realise that many want nothing to do with the platform and have set up camp on BlueSky. While I have accomodation there too, for me it provides few opportunities to properly engage, simply because I feel I am preaching to the choir, which holds little reward. On X, it’s trench warfare and while you’re unlikely to reach many persuadable voters, you are one hundred percent in tune with the hard right social media strategy and this will provide key to understanding how best to move forward against their narrative.

I do have a YouTube channel which to date, I have merely used as an archive for my videos. You can find my portfolio of work by clicking here This is a channel that will become more active in the months ahead, as new video content is created for use here and on other social media platforms.

I believe that Democrats really have no grasp of just how difficult the midterm cycle will be beyond the current real life challenges on the ground. The social media landscape has changed forever. This is going to present a whole new set of challenges now that Zuckerberg has joined Musk to remove moderation. I’ve discussed it before, but it’s worth reiterating. X holds just 12% of the US social media news consumption. For Facebook it’s 45% of all social media sites, with Instagram at 14%. If you add in Threads, it’s estimated that Meta holds around a 70% share of the US social media landscape. So there is little doubt, Musk and Zuckerberg have massive influence in this space. Social media has many overlaps, so it’s difficult to be totally precise. Interestingly though, Pinterest comes in at 21% of social media visits, which I think should not be overlooked in the current cycle. Given it’s not noted as a big platform for politics, Pinterest has the potential to reach persuadable voters with the right hook.

Nobody is sure what’s going to happen with TikTok, but it IS currently a big US player with around 170 million users in the US. The current extension to it being available expires on April 5th. I suspect that Trump may this time be prepared to let it go dark. However, you can never tell with him, so he may extend it again as he did before, to get credit for raising it from the dead again. This is the problem with trying to make assessments, you simply never know what Trump will come up with next.

In any event, the potential is that Trump will have a significant hold over almost the entire social media landscape and that is a BIG PROBLEM. Musk and Zuckerberg can literally tweak the algorithms to help shape a narrative to suit him. Believe me, if Musk can buy the White House and attempt to buy State Supreme Court seat with impunity, tweaking algorithms is a walk in the park. Take it from me wearing my full stack developer hat, I know just what’s possible given I know the API’s of these platforms well.

This brings me back to where we started this conversation and why I need your help. I hope I have proved both in my writing and my video portfolio, I can walk the walk as well as talk the talk. My question is how I can best contribute to the battle ahead?

I am very mindful that a small number of generous subscribers now pay to support my writing here on Substack and I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that. For the support you provide, you get no additional benefit to other subscribers. Let me be clear, I’m not here to put the truth behind a paywall. I am absolutely committed to making my daily content FREE FOREVER. However, what I would like to do is provide some value added content for those kind enough to offer financial support.

This might come in the shape of more detailed analysis pieces, which might be extensions of free posts, along with maybe a weekly paid subscriber newsletter and possibly a live Q & A? I’m just throwing some ideas out there in the hope I can get some feedback as to the best way forward. You are the audience and I feel I have a responsibility to consult, so we can better travel this path together.

So why do I want to encourage more paid subscribers? The primary reason is I want to be able to expand my content to deliver high quality original video content, which is NOT CHEAP to produce. I have to date self funded over 200 ads out of my own pocket. However, after almost 5 years it’s no longer sustainable. One thing I was thinking of is having sessions where paid subscribers could have input into content output, or who to support with Ads and wider public political content. I don’t have to invest in hardware or software to produce output, I have all of this to hand. The cost is related to stock images and footage and other related production costs.

Here’s how I see it. I have the talent and the skill set. Above all, I have the time, as this is now my full time job. I’m no stranger to long working days and deadlines I’ve lived with them all my creative life. What I’m simply looking to do is share some of the cost to produce content for the greater good. Paid subscriptions can definitely help deliver that. I think what I’m saying is I’m all in and for a few dollars a month, we can walk this path together, while delivering a positive contribution to the existential threat that is Trump.

I can happily just carry on as I am and enjoy writing, but I know I can do much more that that. We can help young political talent like Sarah Klee-Hood get to Congress.

We can help support budding new talent in their journey to representing their communities. I have tried this before in 2022 and been unable to get the financial backing to make it happen. However, this proposition is a simple matter of your paid subscription being used for exactly the same purpose. It means I don’t have to dance to the tune of a backer with an agenda, it means subscribers contribute to support a collective vision and play an active role in this fight. Look on it as a political contribution that’s a value added benefit of supporting my work.

I have no agenda here, other than to leave this world a little better than when I joined it. Substack has all the tools to facilitate taking this forward. Those that might want to contribute more to the effort can use the founding member subscription. While others can utilise the discount of an annual subscription, or you can support with a monthly cancel anytime subscription. I know times are difficult for many too, so it’s important to stress, my daily shorter posts and notes will remain absolutely free always.

These are just ideas I’m floating here. I’m simply keen to get your feedback. Please give me time to respond though if the feedback fills up my comments. I will get back to everybody regardless of how long it takes.

Thanks

Martin