Ask Yourself: Is It The Algorithm Or Is It Me?

Substack's bestsellers list; And some POC writers to diversify your feed

I am taking a brief detour from our regularly scheduled (style) programming…

Earlier this week, the Substack REVISIONARY sent out a note about the lack of diversity on the Fashion & Beauty leaderboard on Substack, pointing out that only two of the newsletters in the list of the Top 50 bestsellers were written by people of color. REVISIONARY’s note resonated with me so I did some due diligence before penning this and the (almost) all white top 50 trends across other sections on Substack, from culture to business to travel.

While it’s disappointing, this is not in any way a surprise. We’ve been living in a regression of perspective for quite some time. The truth is, we can’t escape the algorithm. It’s on Substack, on Instagram, our Uber pricing, and in our politics. But it starts to feel lazy to say that a social media computation is the sole reason for the lack of diversity in the mainstream.

The algorithm isn’t blameless, of course. But the sense of sameness is also a reflection of the near twenty years I’ve been in fashion and magazine publishing. There simply aren’t enough editors and writers of color breaking through, and this is by no fault of their own. Also don’t read this as there aren’t enough. We’ve been here and will always continue to be, but our existence is only part of it. We have to be given opportunities to grow, to be able to take advantage of algorithms that prefer to cherry pick parts of our impact and not us.

A question I ask myself and that you should ask yourself too: What do you do to counteract the homogenization of taste? What do you read and where do you find it? Do you seek out other opinions and perspectives that are different than yours? Do you want to?

If not, why?

It’s worth it to take the time to really think about these questions. I think that’s time better spent than pondering over purchasing an Alex Mill sweater via a ShopMy link.

Who or what is in the top 50 list is simply that. A list. It is not an exhaustive collection of interesting voices on this platform by any means. In fact, it’s probably a good idea to get away from it. Sharpen your instinct. As much as you read things on the platform, read things off. Read outside of your area of expertise and interest. Many of the great things I feel I’ve done in the fashion space have never been directly linked to me mining that space for inspiration.

I’m gonna make this easy. I have made a list and it will forever pinned to my Substack page of exciting writers on this platform, not just in fashion and beauty, that are great follows. Subscribe to them.

This is not a definitive list and I will update this post with recommendations and keep it up without a paywall. I welcome more suggestions in the comments.

Fashion & Beauty

• Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, Brain Matter

• Jalil Johnson, Consider Yourself Cultured

• Osman Ahmed, Private Parts

• Imani Randolph, desire paths

• Arabelle Sicardi, You’ve Got Lipstick On Your Teeth

• Mya Gelber, Primary School

• rian phin, Cultural Production

• Amrita Singh

• Tatiana Pile, The Unpolished Edit

• Michelle Li, Good Fantasy

• Telsha Anderson-Boone, T.A. New York

• Zoë Yasemin, ART DIRECTION

• Aurora James is Curious

• Tamu McPherson, Tamu’s Cafe

• Mélody Thomas, La Perce-Orielle

• Neelam Ahooja, Neelam Noted

Pop Culture / Film & TV / Music

• Hunter Harris, Hung Up

• Brendon Holder, LOOSEY

• Ira Madison III, Frank

• Meecham Whitson Meriweather, Now That I Mention It

• Harmony Holiday, Black Music and Black Muses

• brittany spanos, BRIT POP

• Bolu Babalola, Juicy

• Otegha Uwagba, Add to Wishlist

• Elissa Suh, MOVIEPUDDING

• Angelica Jade Bastién, Madwomen & Muses

• J Wortham, channeling

• Tahirah Hairston, Ridiculous Little Things

• ayan artan, rent free

• Akosua T. Adasi, Consumption Report

• arimeta diop, kill fee

• Zeba Blay, Carefree Black Girl

• Christiana Mbakwe Medina, Pop Syllabus

• Ochuko Akpovbovbo, As Seen On

Art / Literature

• terry nguyen, Vague Blue

• Michelle Santiago Cortés, My Writing

• Marlowe Granados, From the Desk of Marlowe Granados

• Tembe Denton-Hurst, Extracurricular

• Amani Hope, Books & Banter

• Lyssie Gaines <3 Quiet Parts

• Janet Asante Sullivan, Janet Asante Sullivan Studio

Etc.

• Aiyana Ishmael, JV Captain’s Club

• folu, unsnackable

• Tasnim Ahmed, Journal

• Sydney Gore, Nobody’s Home

• Fariha Róisín, How To Cure A Ghost

• Danya Issawi, Mish Mashy

• Shelcy Joseph, Market Appointment

• suea, From, Suea

• Safy Hallan Farah, .,¤°✿princess babygirl

• Yaminah Mayo, Yaminah's Frontal Lobe