Letters by Burk #160: Where the Readers Are
Two weeks of platforms, search numbers, and one uncomfortable question about who is actually reading.
Hi friends,
Two weeks this time, so this one is a bit fuller.
Looking back at what I wrote, most of it circles the same question without me planning it. Where are the readers, and are they even people? One post counts followers on two feeds, one counts clicks in Google, and one counts bots. The answers don't line up as neatly as I'd like.
The others are a humanity piece, a satire, and a European surveillance law. Loose thread, I know.
Here's my two weeks.
Bluesky vs Substack Notes
A lot of people search for that comparison, which surprised me. Bluesky is down to roughly half its peak, Notes keeps everyone inside the house, and neither one is where the long game gets won.
Read it on Medium or on Substack.
The Best Blogging Platform for SEO in 2026
I hooked every place I write to the same Search Console and compared 90 days. Medium with a custom domain got about 12,000 clicks. My own two blogs, built properly, got 18 and 29. The checklists say otherwise.
Read it on Medium or on Substack.
The Heroin Chic Is Back
The thin ideal came back with a prescription this time. And the male version of it, which nobody calls a disorder, is running just as hard in the gym.
Read it on Medium or on Substack.
The Final Gender
A satire piece, my first in a while. The proposal is to abolish the category entirely, and it goes exactly as well as you'd expect. This one stayed on Medium.
Read it on Medium.
Europe Has Its Own CLOUD Act Now
The e-Evidence Regulation went live, and almost nobody covered it. A prosecutor in one member state can now demand your data from a provider in another in ten days. The old process averaged ten months.
Read it on Medium or on Substack.
The Dead Internet Theory. Are We There Yet?
More than half of web traffic is bots. The theory called it years ago, back when it was still a joke on a forum. It is only half true, but that half is the uncomfortable one.
Read it on Medium or on Substack.
📎 From the Archive
I wrote this one in 2021 and the advice held up better than most things I said that year. You do not need an account everywhere. Picking two and doing them properly beats a row of dead profiles.
Read it on Substack.
❓ FAQ
Is it still worth starting on Bluesky?
As a second channel, sure. Links are not punished there, which is more than X can say. Just know the room is emptier than it was. Around 3 million daily users now, roughly half the peak. Post your links, keep your expectations low.
Should I skip the platforms and just run my own blog?
Not at the start. My own blogs are built cleanly and they still sit at double-digit clicks while Medium pulls thousands. That gap is Medium's distribution, not a flaw in your setup. Run the blog for the long game, publish where the readers already are, and put your own domain in front of both.
Half the traffic is bots. Does SEO still make sense?
It does, and it is still my biggest growth channel. But the shape is changing. A million impressions and twelve thousand clicks means most people saw my headline and never came. AI overviews answer the question before anyone reaches the link. Write the thing people actually type, and accept that fewer of them arrive.
That's #160. Back soon. ✌️
