How 'Instapoet' is about to become 'Substapoet'
Should we be nervous? Poetry (pen) Pals #54
Instapoetry had a moment. TikTok joined in the fun. Tbf, that moment is still alive and kicking, it’s just that if you’re reading this you’ve no doubt snuggled up with Substack and might be hoping things will be different here. They might be. They might not.
Incase you missed it (how?), the whole ‘Instapoetry’ thing led to some griping. Some people getting defensive and irksome. “This isn’t real poetry”. “This is destroying the whole genre”. “It’s all too simple and shallow.”
No matter, we have Substack now. Substack, where REAL writing lives. Where REAL poets reside. Only, with the mass exodus from X and the general realisation that Instagram is only heading one way, more and more people are discovering Substack on a daily basis and enjoying how safe and welcoming and expansive it is. What will this mean for poetry? Are we about to see the same ‘watering down’ of good poetry on this platform?
I wrote a piece about this about a year ago and didn’t press publish. I decided the debate was getting a bit old and boring. But now, with a few changes, I am. Why?
Well partly because clearly I still have opinions I need to get off my chest. But also because it’s surely only a matter of time before Substack gets it’s own ‘sub-genre’ poetry label. And we need to be ready.
‘Instapoet’ is likely to lead to ‘Substapoet’ (or a catchier term made up by someone who has had more sleep than me).
Now, how does that make you feel?
Should we be nervous?
I’m probably not the only one seeing a huge influx of new writers on here and feeling a bit weird about it. In a, “this was a small, polite gathering and now I fear a raucous party is starting and I’m actually a bit of an introvert” way. In fact, I’m sure I’m not the only one, the majority of my readers are poets after all, we’re deep thinking, often sensitive-to-the-world types.
But let’s pull out the key word in that sentence. Fear.
Every time I notice my thinking being led by fear I try to turn it into thinking led by hope. “I hope we can keep on building a supportive, wonderful community of poets on this platform” - nicer. Of course we can. One with a door wide open the way we would want to receive a door…wide open. “I hope we can still find quiet spaces to read poetry” - that’s in our hands. Curate your feed. Turn off notifications etc. “I hope there will still be readers for my work” - actually there’s about to be a whole load more. What this looks like is a whole new set of people who are interested in poetry coming into the room. Yes I might feel like standing awkwardly in a corner, but give it some time and I think the conversations are going to be beautiful.
The ‘Substapoet’ thing though - isn’t that just a different version of ‘Instapoet’?
Is my Notes feed about to be bombarded with one line poems that resemble tweets on a cream background?
Oh well, hello. Now we’re getting to root of it (looks for soap box and moves it into a prominent position).
There is something ‘lesser than’ suggested when it comes to the term ‘Instapoet’ and the sub-genre that is Instapoetry. A looking down on. Whether it’s a snarky comment or a disparaging article. In my eyes this mostly comes back to the old fear issue again.
It’s easy to hate on Instapoetry. It’s harder to acknowledge where that hate comes from.
With the green eyed comments of, “It’s just a bit shit. It is not well written. It’s not even real poetry,” it seems there’s an underlying feeling of, “why can’t my poetry be that widely read,’ and, ‘it’s not fair,’ and from some people, ‘this genre belongs to those of us on a ‘higher level’.”
I’m not going to deny that I’ve seen the odd poem go viral on social media and thought, “it’s not even that good,” followed by some mutterings to myself about how I wouldn’t want my poems to go viral anyway (raises eyebrows).
But that jealousy, those spiky feelings, they’re all mine. They me something about myself (which although uncomfortable can also be intriguing). That undermining to make me feel better about my own ‘real’ poetry - doesn’t make me feel better about my own, erm, ‘real poetry’ (most of us exist only one comment away from having our words torn apart).
Unkindness doesn’t fill you with positive energy and light, doesn’t encourage the making of more art. Actually it does the opposite, it hurts us too.
Yes, ‘Substapoet’ might well end up being a new iteration of ‘Instapoet’ but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. After all…
‘Insta poetry’ has made poetry as a whole more mainstream, more popular, more accessible.
I don’t know if there are any stats about how many people start off by reading ‘Instapoetry’ and then move elsewhere but I’d be really surprised if it led to people moving away from the genre. And let’s be honest, the genre itself wasn’t having a great time ten years ago.
It’s a depressing fact but the more ‘money’ is in poetry, the more chance that some of the talented poets in the world will be able to get their work out there. If we want more shelves dedicated to poetry in bookshops - we need more poetry being written and published full stop. A thriving market with as many forms and styles and people writing and reading it as possible. There is space for everyone.
I know from personal experience that it was ‘Instapoetry’ that brought me back to poetry after a long hiatus (most of the poetry I studied doing my literature degree was written by dead white men - made me hate poetry for a long time). I started to read poetry that didn’t resemble anything I’d been told about poetry. It was exciting.
I found a way in.
That was about ten years ago and I now have whole shelves in my house dedicated to poetry books. I have published a poetry book.
Poets like Rupi Kaur and
have undoubtedly done masses for the poetry industry - far more than others working to close doors and keep poetry all to themselves. Which brings us on to…Gatekeeping. And the problems with the publishing industry.
There are some incredible small presses doing their damn hardest to publish more diverse poetry books. Some larger ones too. But publishing opportunities still lack accessibility and equity. I mean you can’t tell me that all the celebrities authors just happen to be incredible writers. No. They just have contacts. And agents. And money.
Self-publishing opportunities, social media and now Substack have allowed so many more writers to get their words out into the world. Social media bypasses gatekeepers. Do I want to read more diverse poetry? Yes I do. Do I think the world needs that? Yes I do.
Ok, so the algorithms are still a huge problem. You could argue that allowing follower numbers to influence the best sellers chart will only result in a different side to the same coin.
However, I do think the rise of Instapoetry helped to loosen the overly-academic handcuffs that had been fastened to poetry’s wrists for the longest time. And with Substack we get the chance to continue that movement. If we want progressive art, and I think we do, then surely this is an interesting development. Whether it has it fully worked is up for debate but I don’t think it’s deniable that some sort of progress is happening.
Did we truly get exciting new art or mass produced easy-to-digest content on Instagram and TikTok? Hmm, I imagine we got a bit of both. I imagine the same will become true on any platform.
But do I think that on balance the fact that some of the poetry might not be as well crafted as it could be is a price worth paying for this opening up of possibilities. Yeah, I think I do. At the moment anyway (there’s a separate strand of this debate when it comes to AI).
And actually…
Who decides what ‘good’ looks like anyway?
The fact is, ‘good’ poetry is exceptionally subjective.
Yes there are the greats, that more people generally agree are good than don’t. But your list of favourite poems and poets is going to be different to mine and your explanation for why these poems are good will also be different.
By dismissing an entire sub-genre as below par, we risk devaluing some, in my opinion, excellent poetry. High quality writing. No, some of these poets might not have MA’s or prestigious writing awards but we’ve already established that prejudices and barriers exist that nowadays we are able to move beyond.
I’d like to acknowledge and celebrate Instapoetry for what it is - a sub-genre, with it’s own themes and techniques, quirks, highs, lows, good quality poetry, not so good.
I’ve also heard it suggested that people who enjoy ‘instapoetry’ don’t know what ‘good’ poetry is. I mean, how condescending. Or that they are not willing to do the work of understanding or dissecting, want only ‘basic’ or simple. Don’t we all won’t that sometimes? I know I do. How can we as readers ever know how much time and effort has gone into a piece of art, a personal moment of expression. Not to mention that the person writing it might have no interest in entering into some sort of elitist literary canon or producing ‘poetry’ anyway. If they have ‘made’ a thing - what does it do to belittle it?
If someone is getting something from reading three gentle lines on an Instagram post then what right does anyone have to negate that? I have no right to. That’s like my son saying he likes playing Fortnite and me saying, “you can’t like that, you can take no joy in that, it’s just absolute garbage” (hmm, maybe I have said some of that, this was a bad example, ha).
Likes don’t necessarily equate to the quality of the poetry, of course not. Otherwise over on Instagram we are letting Meta dictate what ‘great’ poetry and art is. And that’s a dangerous game for sure. But it may well mean lots of people enjoyed it once it was shown to them.
And the assertion might come, “…but it shouldn’t be called poetry” - but why not? Who owns the word poetry? The gatekeepers we spoke about earlier. White men? Oh, ok then. The world is pretty shitty and scary right now, if someone gets some comfort from a ‘sort of poem’ on TikTok I don’t really find issue with that.
It’s not tech that’s the problem, it’s how we use it
And in this case, the people who control it. Unfortunately the annoyance at Instapoetry often ends up misplaced - at the door of the human being (often a woman, we’ll come back to that in a minute) who wrote it. Rather than the immoral, click-baitey, money driven, shit-machine that is Meta.
Does said shit-machine prioritise art and artists that have taken time and attention and pushed the boundaries of creativity maybe not posting for months at a time because they are working on said art. Of course it doesn’t, because that doesn’t bring in the cash.
I don’t hate ‘Insta-poetry’ as a sub-genre, but I dislike Instagram as a platform. As a writer who cares deeply about poetry as an art form and as practise, I don’t want to be publishing on a platform where I have to actively find a way to stop them using my words to train AI (and hope they remotely give a shit about my permissions).
The fact that some publishers are now demanding people have large social media following in order to publish their books bothers me - from an accessibility perspective and also the fact it becomes about popularity and making money and not interesting art. The pendulum has done an almighty swing. Capitalism is grim.
That’s where (for now) I think Substack is different. And therefore where I think we might see a different sort of poetry success - hopefully where all sorts of different forms and writers can be celebrated. But I might be wrong. Notes is having a right old time currently.
All that is to say, let’s not go all hatey on the players. If anything, hate on the game. Hate on the game and use it on your own terms. Because also,
The players (‘Instapoets’) particularly on social media, are often women.
Or at least the ones criticised most regularly are. Now I’m not saying all women are supportive of other women and indeed humanity (hello US election result) and therefore automatically worthy of our support. But if you believe that white, supremacist, capitalist, patriarchy is screwing us ALL over then you have to take note where women’s voices and art (and as established we are largely talking about women on Instagram) are undermined and devalued.
So when I hear ‘Instapoets’ being written off and almost ridiculed, it makes me feel very uncomfortable. Much as the writing off of ‘chic lit’ makes me uncomfortable. Some chic lit is not high quality literature. And the same is true of some instapoetry. I’m not suggesting for a second that just because a woman has written a pleasant line about self-love with a hand-sketched rose it has to be acknowledged as fine art (ooh, that snarkiness is still lingering - and neither should it be automatically dismissed as fine art!)
I’m just saying that this ‘laughing off’ or ‘dumbing down’ of a genre mainly frequented by under-represented people may well contribute to a rhetoric that doesn’t benefit any of us humanity believers. A woman making her own money from making her own art is never a popular choice in our current regime.
Also, it’s worth noting where the language sometimes goes. It starts off with criticising the lack of rhythm or form (fair enough in some instances) and then quickly creeps into the personal. It (she) is vacuous. All it (she) talks about love (wow, love, someone lock her up quick). Then suddenly you’re delving into class, appearance…. Same old, same old.
“Take no notice of this inane shit”, is the message. Only certain people get to decide what ‘good’ art is. Side note: You won’t get to decide either but if you could do our job of policing literature that would be great.
Or something like that.
With all that said, I do understand, empathise AND share the desire to protect the art of writing poetry.
Hold up? After everything I’ve just said?
Look, I believe it is an art. And I believe art needs space and time and curiosity. Art celebrates uniqueness - something I’m not sure social media is set up for. Something capitalist culture is certainly seeking to destroy.
At this point it may might well sound like I’m about to go against my earlier ambition to stop hating on ‘insta poetry’ because actually I do believe poetry is more than ‘a line which looks like a tweet on a pretty cream background.’
No but seriously, I do 100% know that poetry takes skill and expertise and talent and time. I know this because I’ve been working on my own craft diligently for years now and I know I’ll be working on it forever (or as long as I want to keep improving).
talks about how yes, we can all be ‘writers,’ in as much as we can all write. But just as we wouldn’t automatically expect to be, ‘plumbers’ or ‘surgeons’ - to do this work well does require acquisition of skill, does require a degree of ‘training’.The fact is, craft does matter. The fact is, some poems are better written than others.
There are poems I read and think, “holy shit this is INCREDIBLE, how the hell have they done it?!” There are the poets amongst us that make it look easy. Anyone who takes poetry seriously (or should I say devotedly) knows that it is not. Craft does matter.
And so yes, perhaps it is frustrating when we see a poem getting a whole load of attention that doesn’t seem to meet these standards. Where it doesn’t appear that our craft has been respected or honoured, cared for. When there is an account on Instagram that does appear to be, “AI produced light-weight poetry.’ Perhaps we do need to work harder to protect our art.
But ultimately I don’t think the two things are mutually opposed - I can enjoy ‘Instapoetry’ AND believe that poetry as an art-form is sacred and deserves protection.
And we can do that more easily when we seek to protect it not due to the feeling of scarcity (believing there’s only so much success to go round and that poet who only arrived on here last week and already has 1k subscribers is going to take some of ours). And not in an unkind, patronising way. Not from a place of fear - whether that be fear of change or fear of things moving in a direction we don’t understand (there is possibly an age dimension to this conversation, I say that as a 43yo who isn’t even on TikTok). Not from a place of hate but from a place of love for a craft I know has so much history and depth. From a place of curiosity at how we can hold on to that lineage and still move forward to some place new. From a place of believing that poets, as with most artists, are normally trying to do good in the world.
So then, what next? And does any of this matter?
To return to my question at the beginning - are we about to see the same ‘watering down’ of good poetry on this platform? Yeah, probably. If by that we mean, is there likely to be more ‘water’ in the tank, more people having a go with poetry writing who might not be previously published with years of experience behind them. Personally, I love to see more people playing with poetry because it fills my heart right up. That’s what I feel I’m doing. Come and play on here with me!
I’d be quite happy with a whole platform dedicated to poetry of every type imaginable. If everyone focused on reading and writing more poetry maybe there’d be less time for causing trouble, just saying.
I think that’s the wrong question. The question I am asking myself is, what part do I want to play in this?
Because we have a choice.
Personally, I want to keep on creating and sharing my poetry while being absolutely sure I’m not making my art FOR social media. Or saying that, FOR any platform.
One thing I have really enjoyed about Substack over the last few years has been it’s commitment to longer form content. And with regards to poetry, that means more freedom. I do hope that continues.
The minute I start wondering whether I should cut that poem down a bit so it fits onto one page for a post, that’s when I’ve lost my way. That’s when I have become a content creator and not an artist. Nothing wrong with the former, but it’s not the same thing. And we need real art more than ever right now.
I also plan to stay in my own lane and not judge what other people are doing, which only takes attention and energy of my own work - the bit that we have responsibility and control over.
I can stop following. I can subscribe to the poets who I like reading. I have free will. And that is the same for any platform, Substack included. It’s likely that in the coming months I might need to start flexing that muscle a little bit more.
And at the same time, stay clued up and interested and not an oblivious bystander. I’m not suggesting for a second that we let change wash over us. Did I do a huge sigh in the last few weeks when it appeared Substack might be falling in line with the other morally unjustifiable social media platforms. Yeah. Will I be keeping a close eye on this and remaining committed to buying physical poetry books, supporting small presses, journals etc. Yes.
Where is the future of poetry? How can we protect this genre we love so much? How can I keep asking more questions than I assume answers. I believe poetry is going to be more important than ever in the years ahead (I don’t believe that ‘instapoets’ are the only reason for poetry having a revival - when times are tough poetry can soothe), so where might that be?
The fact is it will evolve anyway, with or without us.
I can stay close to my own core beliefs about poetry and art, while leaving space to be proved wrong on the rest.
For what it’s worth, here’s what I believe:
I believe that everyone can benefit from poetry. Not everyone has the same skills, knowledge, experience (maybe even innate talent) for writing poetry. Not everyone is remotely interested in having the above. Poetry should not be kept behind a glass screen and touched only with gloved hands. It is possible to feel equally as protective and passionate about the ‘craft of poetry’ as the ‘accessibility of poetry.’ In fact, if you only have the former I think it sadly leaves a big gaping hole. I think the world would be a better place if more people were reading and writing poetry more often.
Where a poet chooses to publish their work will not dictate how I feel about them. I support the writers I personally believe are doing good work. Important work. Perhaps because I don’t really feel part of any ‘poetry scene,’ and I’m big on empathy, I fall more towards the door opening side of things. I’m more interested in how we come back closer together than push each other further apart. I’m all for ignoring labels that don’t serve or aim to discredit.
I will continue to read and write with good intentions. I will continue to give others the same grace unless proved otherwise.
I’ll not get sucked into the hating. Whether that is over on Instagram, TikTok or even here on Substack (surely not here, our safe space).
I love poetry too much for that.
Perhaps we are about to uncover a whole new ‘sub-genre’ of poetry on Substack. In fact, to believe that isn’t already happening is perhaps naive.
I think that’s pretty cool. I’m looking forward to it.
How about you?
Nelly x
P.s What are your thoughts? Do you think we’ll see a whole new sub-genre of poetry on Substack? How does that make you feel?
I’d love to know (kindly though of course, I’m up for disagreement as long as constructive).
A reminder that for this month’s Poetry Pals Book Club we are reading, ‘The Moon That Turns you Back’ by . All the details here. Looking forward to our discussion post next weekend on Sunday 23rd….
Personally, I like Instapoetry because it is relatable, down to earth and not at all snobby or pretentious. Substack can be the opposite sometimes and it feels like the only way to be accepted as a poet on here is to be published, to have some 'experience' in the poetry world or to be a famous poet, maybe that's just me, but I am slowly getting more and more tired with Substack and the need to 'perform' to be seen, understood and accepted in an ever increasing field, it wasn't like that when I joined, but I am finding myself getting bored trying to fit in... maybe I just need a lie down, but I found your article interesting, thanks for sharing 🤎
Hi Nelly
I just made myself slow down to read your discussion of this extremely interesting topic.
The fact that I had to make myself “slow down” to read something of that (actually quite modest) length was a reminder to me that Substack and the rest of the online world can get out of hand and relentless, driving us faster and faster to read more and more examples of shorter and shorter content.
The result - constant partial attention and a shallowing out of genuine engagement.
However, at least with Substack - as you say - longer content is encouraged, and the discipline to read it and to think deeply about it rests with the reader. Myself - I am balancing Substack with in depth reading of actual “Books” (for those who remember what books are), just to make sure I don’t lose the capability for sustained concentration and attention…..
Look, basically I agree with everything you say. My perspective on this is perhaps unusual though.
I have written Poetry and short prose all my life, but only in my mid 30’s did I start to feel that I had found my “voice” and that I had work I wanted to share, though getting any of it published was - at least at first - extremely hard. It didn’t help that I was living in a remote area of Central Australia (Alice Springs) and that the Internet was really still in its infancy. (Mid 1990’s).
My poem “My Big Break” is a sardonic account of that: https://davidkirkby.substack.com/p/my-big-break
Eventually, by the early noughties, I had won two (Australian) national poetry awards and a couple of regional gongs as well, and my work was being accepted in literary journals and even a national newspaper. A small boutique poetry press published a small collection of my work. So - publishing success, of sorts.
But the mainstream trad world of poetry publishing was unsatisfying, and the “networking” required felt …. Well. I was not comfortable with it.
So I kept writing but I went “dark.” I stopped publishing and I dropped out of sight for 22 years. I just wrote for myself, and for my wonderful partner.
Then - 6 months ago - my partner discovered Substack and said “Look at this!”
I did just that, and I could see a Poetry community which was reasonably diverse, highly creative, and - mostly - sincere. So I set up my own Substack and started publishing my work - a mix of my previously published back catalogue from long ago, plus other work from my “fuck off I only write for my partner” phase, and brand new work too - some of it published the day it was written.
6 months in, my impressions are:
I had not expected, and I do truly enjoy, the dialogue with other writers, and with people who are mainly readers.
I had not fully understood how beneficial it would be for my own creativity to be back in contact with other Poets, and reading such a wide range of work on a daily basis. My own creativity and productivity has definitely increased as a result.
The numbers game: I see people really “working the room” - but that’s fine. I can engage or not - my choice. Would I love for one of MY poems to go “viral”? Of course! Whoopee! But I’m not holding my breath.
Yep - there is some Poetry here (probably a lot) that just isn’t my thing. If pushed, and inebriated, I might be a bit negative about some of it. But hey - compared to mainstream media - Substack is a Rainforest. I’m happy to wander through the jungle and pick fruit that is right for me.
Will there be a rush of people from other Platforms - as per your essay? I dunno. I’m happy to take your word for it. I never plunged into Insta and I loathed Twitter (even before the Fascist takeover) - so I haven’t seen what was there. But if they come? I agree with you - more water in the tank, more writing, more diversity. Great!
I am loving it here - but I am worried about “Platform Death.” How long will Substack survive, and what will happen if the owners turn Musk or sell to a Musk or a Zuckerberg?
For now - I think it’s a great place for Poetry. I have mixed feelings about mainstream publishing and the trad Poetry “Gatekeepers” - but now that I’m warmed up I’m having a go at that again too, because I accept that self publishing on Substack does run the very real risk of self indulgence, self congratulation and self deception.
Again though - everyone can choose. I choose to be here. I choose to try and mix it with other publishing and 3rd party scrutiny, but everyone can do it their way.
As you wisely say - that’s how Poetry develops.
Is there a Substack sub-genre of Poetry? Not sure - but I am loving the creativity and joy of mixing my Poetry with my photography, and sometimes with my partner’s art work. I’m also enjoying mixing Poetry with prose. My posts on Substack look less and less like a trad poetry collection, and more and more like a mixed media meditation on the themes that engage me. I used to believe the mantra that “a good poem should stand alone” - but I’m walking away from that - fast.
Thanks for the great thought provoking essay, Nelly.
Best wishes from Australia
Dave :)