Finding a Port in the Storm: Choosing a Platform for Heterodox Thought
Conversation with my Google Gemini Assistant (Model: Gemini Pro)
After a period away from regular online publishing, I've decided it's time to return. As someone deeply engaged in STEM for over 30 years, the process of writing—summarizing experiences, drawing conclusions, and sharing observations—is not just an auxiliary activity, but a vital part of my learning and contribution process. However, finding the right digital home for this process in today's online environment requires careful consideration.
My journey back to publishing began with evaluating platforms where I already had a presence, primarily Medium and Substack. My history with online platforms has been somewhat turbulent. As a scientist, I feel duty-bound to make thoughtful, honest observations based on evidence and analysis, even when those observations run counter to prevailing cultural themes or narratives. This commitment to heterodoxy, unfortunately, has led to friction. I've experienced bans and significant limitations on platforms including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Medium itself. Comments I made on Medium, grounded in my understanding but challenging accepted viewpoints at the time (views which, incidentally, were later validated), met with resistance. On LinkedIn, despite a large professional network, my reach often felt muted, perhaps reflecting a platform culture less aligned with challenging discourse.
This history framed my search. The primary question became: Which platform, as of April 2025, best supports the publication of potentially controversial or heterodox ideas without undue platform interference? My goal isn't to provoke, but to honestly report observations and conclusions derived from a scientific perspective.
Our exploration, aided by discussions with my AI assistant, Gemini, compared the philosophies of the main contenders:
Medium: While offering potential for broad reach via its internal distribution, Medium's more active content moderation policies and community standards have, in my experience, proven restrictive for viewpoints outside the mainstream. Its focus seems geared towards a more curated, less challenging environment.
Substack: This platform explicitly positions itself as a haven for free expression, emphasizing a direct writer-reader relationship via newsletters. Its content moderation policies are stated to be more minimal, focusing on illegal content and direct harm (incitement, harassment) rather than policing the ideas themselves. While this stance has generated its own controversies (particularly regarding extremist content), it appears, by design, more tolerant of heterodox thinking compared to Medium. The "unsubscribe" button is presented as the primary reader-side filter.
Other Alternatives (Ghost, Beehiiv, Self-Hosting): We also considered platforms like Ghost (especially self-hosted WordPress or static sites) which offer maximum control and independence from platform moderation. However, these options typically involve monthly fees or significant technical overhead for hosting, security, and maintenance. Given that publishing is an important component but not my primary career, the simplicity and lack of direct cost associated with a hosted platform were appealing. Beehiiv, while offering a compelling feature set and potentially less interventionist moderation than Medium, still operates as a centralized service.
Considering these factors, Substack emerged as the most suitable choice for my current needs. Its free tier removes financial barriers, allowing me to focus on writing without worrying about hosting costs or subscription fees (unless I choose to monetize later). More importantly, its stated commitment to broader free expression, despite the attendant controversies, seems more aligned with my need to publish potentially challenging observations without facing the kind of platform-level friction I've encountered elsewhere. It offers a space where the primary judgment of my work rests with the readers who choose to subscribe, rather than potentially opaque platform algorithms or moderation teams enforcing shifting cultural norms.
This Substack will serve as a place for reflection, analysis, and the sharing of conclusions drawn from my experiences in STEM and beyond. It's a return to a practice I find essential, hosted on a platform I hope will prove a stable port for thoughtful, if sometimes unconventional, discourse.
Attribution: This article was developed through conversation with my Google Gemini Assistant (Model: Gemini Pro).