Notes are my new Shorts

Everything today has to be simple, bite-sized — a dopamine jolt straight to the cortex. I’m no different.

The FOMO wrecked what was left of my fragile brain. I deleted TikTok and Instagram Reels. YouTube is my last holdout.

The funniest part? It’s not just videos. I crave short text too. I burn hours on X and LinkedIn. It’s the same brain-rot — sure, you pick who to follow, but your dopamine-hungry brain hunts the same junk.

Scrolling was burning me out, so I went hunting for a better feed. Turns out, the best algorithm might be the least sophisticated one: Substack Notes. At first, when Substack started creating Notes, it felt awkward — like a cash grab after Twitter’s meltdown. Hardly anyone used it. But lately, it’s gotten good. Now, nine times out of ten, my feed’s full of solid recommendations. It’s still a tug-of-war between engagement and quality, but let’s hope quality keeps winning so Notes doesn’t become another dopamine dumpster.

And yeah — this post is short. That’s the point. I don’t have the mental bandwidth for long-form right now. Maybe you don’t either.