long-form is so back ✍️

nostalgia just won’t quit.

speaking for all millennials everywhere: we miss long-form content ☠️ seriously. I miss buying magazines, flipping through Vogue’s glossy fashion columns, and reading every word of Cosmo’s “love + relationships” articles.

print died (RIP). so we pivoted to blogs. I spent hours every week drinking up The Skinny Confidential’s beauty posts and even reading the unnecessarily long backstories food bloggers added before giving up the recipe.

then came Instagram + TikTok and...poof. long-form disappeared. suddenly it was all short hooks and “make it snappy” edits.

but guess what’s finally creeping back? long-form.

enter: Substack. (not quite Vogue, but close enough).

Substack feels like the blog you had in 2016- except now you can actually get paid for it. writers set their own subscription prices (usually $5–$10/month), Substack takes 10%, and the rest goes straight to the creator. no chasing invoices, no waiting on brand budgets.

and let’s keep things real: the economy is shifting. wallets are tighter, brands are cutting spend, and influencer marketing budgets are often the first to shrink. that means smaller checks for creators.

the solution: stop relying on brands as your sole paycheck. 

take ownership of your content. 

diversify away from just TikTok + Instagram and explore platforms like Discord, Snapchat, and (yep) Substack.

Substack's features (like gated premium content + private chats) allows you to build trust with your audience and give them a reason to invest in you.

here’s why this matters: in 2025, trust is your currency. consistently putting your thoughts into writing builds intimacy with your community- and that intimacy converts. it makes people click your links, buy your merch, and show up at your events.

and this isn’t just a newsletter platform anymore. Substack is evolving into podcasts, video, and chat- a full media stack for independents. plus, brands are already using it to funnel people into IRL events (talking allll about this at the platform 2026). it’s nostalgia, monetization, and real-world connection colliding in one place.

long-form is back. and this time, it’s paying the bills.

xx

-Mackenzie @ the cohort