As an artist I dabbled in 3D modeling and printing when it became affordable and when I printed my first piece I was actually just... Horrified.
My time and effort and talents we condensed into a cheap plastic product that no one would take seriously and it was going to choke something in the fossil record.
I snapped back so hard I got into pottery and now I joke with people who know me about what dead or dieing medium I've gotten into this week as I search for mediums that feel "real".
I work with fire, wood, mud, and metal now, and I'm happier for it because my hands are too busy to pick up my phone 🫠
I feel the same way about art- older mediums are way more intriguing than plastic or modern forms. I was foraging last weekend in the Adirondack mountains and I found a mushroom, I started doing more research on it. I'm originally from north Georgia and just moved to new york this past October so some of the mushrooms and plants here are newer to me. Anyway, I found it very interesting that this particular mushroom- tinder canvas is one name. Maybe you are already familiar with it. It was used as a canvas many years ago. Your comment made me think of that... I haven't ever seen anyone in today's time use a mushroom as a canvas for art.
I've found artist conk once in my life before! It was awesome!
This whole post makes me think that there is a middle age in eras of creativity when things are the best before they get commercialized packaged and sold as a cheap fast item.
Currently I've wandered into an old diecasting facility, an art form that was obliterated by mechanization and computer modeling and printing.
Even back then it was a warning of things to come, the commodification of an ancient art form. From hand smithing metal and gems from the earth to... TJ maxx plastic. And diecasting was a sweatshop job back in the day lol.
All that to say I really miss old YouTube and old platforms and how they used to work. I wasn't expecting it wake up to an essay that would cut so deep 😂
Pottery, fire, wood, mud, metal—mediums that don't get an update pushed to them overnight. The hands-too-busy-for-the-phone part is what I'm jealous of.
I’m sorry Morgan. I think I’ve been watching you and cheering for you and Allison since late 2018-2019. I was thrilled when you broke away from that insurance company and started your farm. I have the sweatshirt & tshirts to prove it. lol. Say this reminds me, I miss those videos “All ducks go to bed!” Can you make new ones showing that? Or repost the old ones? Would that help? Can you resurrect old tshirts & sweatshirt classics? Especially Toby dog, because I worry he’s getting up there. Pablo Escobarn too. ❤️ I will try to stay away from shorties! Do they show up as some form of Gold Shaw Farm label or will they have a new name? I have to watch so carefully the provider name. Ugh. I’m praying for you and your farm, Morgan. I hope for better days ahead. Thank you for writing us and letting us know.
Carol, you've been around since before any of this changed—and that means a lot. The old videos and old merch aren't off the table; finding the time is the trick right now. Thanks for sticking with us!
Thanks. This finally clarifies why TicToc is constantly sending me crap I would never actually pick on based on what I like. Every thing is constantly changing but you need to keep writing. You are an amazing storyteller
Thanks Jeffrey. The crap-sending isn't a bug... it's the whole product now. Storytelling is the only piece I have any control over, so that's what I keep working on.
Hi Morgan, I appreciate it your explanation of what's Happening on the platforms where you post. You and Dusty Baker from Cross Timbers bison are my favorite videos to watch. Tells you something about my childhood growing up in Colorado. Also about as far away from Trump as I can get.
Wanted you to know that I think YouTube is really shooting itself in the foot, as I come away from most videos with a sour taste. It feels like I've just spent a couple hours eating junk food. I sometimes Google to find out if what I'm watching is AI generated, but so much of it is that I give up and watch reruns of old TV shows.
Thanks for being on sub stacks and congrats on the new Calves. Hope Ron Swanson's eggs hatch soon.
Sue—the junk-food framing is exactly right. You walk away full and unsatisfied at the same time. We'll see what Ron Swanson's eggs do... nothing on a farm runs on a tight schedule.
As a creator, how do you think about becoming more defensible against the changing boats and tides? Do you search for the calmer waters? Learn to sail whatever vessel you're on? Or some combination of both?
My wife and I are still in the building phase... we have day jobs funding the content venture, and not the other way around yet. Which maybe means we're early enough to be intentional about what we build and where we build it
Curious how you'd think about it from where you are now. Or if you had to start Gold Shaw Farm all over again in 2026.
If I had to start over in 2026, I'd put my attention on the places that give you the most organic growth and that work with your natural skills. In 2018, for me, that was YouTube. I knew how to make videos, and YouTube was where reach was easiest to come by. By 2021, the answer would have been TikTok, that's where the organic growth had moved. Right now, in 2026, it's probably here on Substack. The skill question matters as much as the reach question. If you can write, you want the place where writing reaches readers. If you can shoot short video, you want the place where short video reaches viewers. The platform that's giving stuff away today won't be the one giving it away in three years. Watch where your natural format is reaching people without you having to fight the algorithm, and live there until that stops being true.
The grooming doesn't work anymore because the algorithm isn't optimizing for what you want—it's optimizing for what keeps you in the app. Different goal, different feed.
Holey Moley Morgan! I get the major points of Creator Assault & Income Slashing, but ‘can’t fathom the actual System🤔 When A👁️ starts messing with your real life, maybe go back to putting those fingers, pens & creativity into more Hard Cover books - this last one is sure to be a Best Seller❗️
I knew TT was bad for someone with my brain, and I stayed away from it. I only occasionally watch shorts from creators I follow, and I've almost been a ghost on Instagram,so no reels there, but I have really made sure to stay out of the pool because I know I'd drown and I don't need that.
I have lists of ideas for videos that are based on my life experiences, but I just haven't been in the mental space to put it all together. But I always make sure to put that none of my videos are AI, because it's important to me. I'm also having trouble finding a job that doesn't involve AI in some way and it's really discouraging. But I keep at it, a day at a time.
Rebecca, knowing what would chew you up and staying out of the pool is the actual skill. Most people don't have it. The video ideas can wait until the headspace shows up... better to have ideas and no time than the other way around.
I've had to use a ton of extensions to limit what the algorithm shows me, especially after Instagram switched the "suggested" posts from cats, Japanese and food to *shudder* motorcycles, bad pranks and even worse, reggaeton.
I like feeling I have control over what I see, and seeing that being snatched from me angers me. I don't want some lousy AI telling me what I should like or not. Especially not if it goes against my principles. I've also had to block reels and shorts on Insta and YouTube because they actively make my ADHD worse by being unable to watch longer videos. Same reason I follow you in YouTube but not TikTok - I need to be able to concentrate, especially at work. It's been proven that short vids have that detrimental effect, and that's why I prefer your long-format videos.
Curating one's Internet experience is hard, tedious and doesn't like to work as you want it to, but letting others tell you what to like is even worse.
As an artist I dabbled in 3D modeling and printing when it became affordable and when I printed my first piece I was actually just... Horrified.
My time and effort and talents we condensed into a cheap plastic product that no one would take seriously and it was going to choke something in the fossil record.
I snapped back so hard I got into pottery and now I joke with people who know me about what dead or dieing medium I've gotten into this week as I search for mediums that feel "real".
I work with fire, wood, mud, and metal now, and I'm happier for it because my hands are too busy to pick up my phone 🫠
I feel the same way about art- older mediums are way more intriguing than plastic or modern forms. I was foraging last weekend in the Adirondack mountains and I found a mushroom, I started doing more research on it. I'm originally from north Georgia and just moved to new york this past October so some of the mushrooms and plants here are newer to me. Anyway, I found it very interesting that this particular mushroom- tinder canvas is one name. Maybe you are already familiar with it. It was used as a canvas many years ago. Your comment made me think of that... I haven't ever seen anyone in today's time use a mushroom as a canvas for art.
I've found artist conk once in my life before! It was awesome!
This whole post makes me think that there is a middle age in eras of creativity when things are the best before they get commercialized packaged and sold as a cheap fast item.
Currently I've wandered into an old diecasting facility, an art form that was obliterated by mechanization and computer modeling and printing.
Even back then it was a warning of things to come, the commodification of an ancient art form. From hand smithing metal and gems from the earth to... TJ maxx plastic. And diecasting was a sweatshop job back in the day lol.
All that to say I really miss old YouTube and old platforms and how they used to work. I wasn't expecting it wake up to an essay that would cut so deep 😂
Pottery, fire, wood, mud, metal—mediums that don't get an update pushed to them overnight. The hands-too-busy-for-the-phone part is what I'm jealous of.
I’m sorry Morgan. I think I’ve been watching you and cheering for you and Allison since late 2018-2019. I was thrilled when you broke away from that insurance company and started your farm. I have the sweatshirt & tshirts to prove it. lol. Say this reminds me, I miss those videos “All ducks go to bed!” Can you make new ones showing that? Or repost the old ones? Would that help? Can you resurrect old tshirts & sweatshirt classics? Especially Toby dog, because I worry he’s getting up there. Pablo Escobarn too. ❤️ I will try to stay away from shorties! Do they show up as some form of Gold Shaw Farm label or will they have a new name? I have to watch so carefully the provider name. Ugh. I’m praying for you and your farm, Morgan. I hope for better days ahead. Thank you for writing us and letting us know.
Carol, you've been around since before any of this changed—and that means a lot. The old videos and old merch aren't off the table; finding the time is the trick right now. Thanks for sticking with us!
Thanks. This finally clarifies why TicToc is constantly sending me crap I would never actually pick on based on what I like. Every thing is constantly changing but you need to keep writing. You are an amazing storyteller
Thanks Jeffrey. The crap-sending isn't a bug... it's the whole product now. Storytelling is the only piece I have any control over, so that's what I keep working on.
Hi Morgan, I appreciate it your explanation of what's Happening on the platforms where you post. You and Dusty Baker from Cross Timbers bison are my favorite videos to watch. Tells you something about my childhood growing up in Colorado. Also about as far away from Trump as I can get.
Wanted you to know that I think YouTube is really shooting itself in the foot, as I come away from most videos with a sour taste. It feels like I've just spent a couple hours eating junk food. I sometimes Google to find out if what I'm watching is AI generated, but so much of it is that I give up and watch reruns of old TV shows.
Thanks for being on sub stacks and congrats on the new Calves. Hope Ron Swanson's eggs hatch soon.
Sue—the junk-food framing is exactly right. You walk away full and unsatisfied at the same time. We'll see what Ron Swanson's eggs do... nothing on a farm runs on a tight schedule.
As a creator, how do you think about becoming more defensible against the changing boats and tides? Do you search for the calmer waters? Learn to sail whatever vessel you're on? Or some combination of both?
My wife and I are still in the building phase... we have day jobs funding the content venture, and not the other way around yet. Which maybe means we're early enough to be intentional about what we build and where we build it
Curious how you'd think about it from where you are now. Or if you had to start Gold Shaw Farm all over again in 2026.
If I had to start over in 2026, I'd put my attention on the places that give you the most organic growth and that work with your natural skills. In 2018, for me, that was YouTube. I knew how to make videos, and YouTube was where reach was easiest to come by. By 2021, the answer would have been TikTok, that's where the organic growth had moved. Right now, in 2026, it's probably here on Substack. The skill question matters as much as the reach question. If you can write, you want the place where writing reaches readers. If you can shoot short video, you want the place where short video reaches viewers. The platform that's giving stuff away today won't be the one giving it away in three years. Watch where your natural format is reaching people without you having to fight the algorithm, and live there until that stops being true.
Thank you for this. I've been wondering why my attempts to"groom" the YouTube algorithm have been failing so miserably lately.
The grooming doesn't work anymore because the algorithm isn't optimizing for what you want—it's optimizing for what keeps you in the app. Different goal, different feed.
Holey Moley Morgan! I get the major points of Creator Assault & Income Slashing, but ‘can’t fathom the actual System🤔 When A👁️ starts messing with your real life, maybe go back to putting those fingers, pens & creativity into more Hard Cover books - this last one is sure to be a Best Seller❗️
More books may well be the answer!. The slow medium has its advantages right now.
I knew TT was bad for someone with my brain, and I stayed away from it. I only occasionally watch shorts from creators I follow, and I've almost been a ghost on Instagram,so no reels there, but I have really made sure to stay out of the pool because I know I'd drown and I don't need that.
I have lists of ideas for videos that are based on my life experiences, but I just haven't been in the mental space to put it all together. But I always make sure to put that none of my videos are AI, because it's important to me. I'm also having trouble finding a job that doesn't involve AI in some way and it's really discouraging. But I keep at it, a day at a time.
Rebecca, knowing what would chew you up and staying out of the pool is the actual skill. Most people don't have it. The video ideas can wait until the headspace shows up... better to have ideas and no time than the other way around.
I've had to use a ton of extensions to limit what the algorithm shows me, especially after Instagram switched the "suggested" posts from cats, Japanese and food to *shudder* motorcycles, bad pranks and even worse, reggaeton.
I like feeling I have control over what I see, and seeing that being snatched from me angers me. I don't want some lousy AI telling me what I should like or not. Especially not if it goes against my principles. I've also had to block reels and shorts on Insta and YouTube because they actively make my ADHD worse by being unable to watch longer videos. Same reason I follow you in YouTube but not TikTok - I need to be able to concentrate, especially at work. It's been proven that short vids have that detrimental effect, and that's why I prefer your long-format videos.
Curating one's Internet experience is hard, tedious and doesn't like to work as you want it to, but letting others tell you what to like is even worse.