The Dark Side of Newsletter Growth: A Rant About Unethical Practices

Lately, I’ve noticed a surge in newsletters hitting my inbox. The funny part? I never signed up for most of them. Oddly enough, they all seem to come from the same platform, Beehiiv. Now, I’m not saying it’s Beehiiv’s fault. It’s just the delivery mechanism. But what’s starting to bother me is how I ended up on these lists in the first place.

Like most of you, I tend to delete them without a second thought. But this morning, I got curious. I KNOW I didn’t sign up for these, so how the hell are they getting my email? I searched my inbox—no interactions with these people, no sign-ups, no nothing.

Then, buried at the bottom of one of these newsletters, I found the “explanation”: “You’re getting this newsletter because you’re on one of my lists, most likely from our connection on LinkedIn.”

Okay… except we’re NOT connected on LinkedIn. Huh?

So, I dig deeper. I scroll through my LinkedIn history and boom, there it is. A single comment I made on one of the newsletter author’s posts. That’s it. Apparently, commenting on someone’s post is enough to get auto-signed up for their newsletter.

This is slimy.

It’s not just lazy marketing—it’s unethical. Imagine thinking, “Hey, you commented on my post once, so I’m just going to assume you’re dying to read my newsletter.” It reeks of desperation. And here’s the worst part: these people then go around bragging about their subscriber count like it’s some badge of honor. “Look at me, I grew my list by 1,000 subscribers this month!”

Yeah, no kidding. You basically tricked people into joining.

What does this do to the aspiring content creators who are playing by the rules, who are grinding day in and day out to build a legitimate audience? They see these inflated subscriber counts and wonder why they’re not growing as fast. It’s not because their content isn’t as good, it’s because they’re not willing to stoop to these shady tactics. But the psychological impact is real. It can be deflating, even demoralizing.

We have to stop glamorizing these “growth hacks” and start calling them what they really are, cheap tricks that devalue authentic connection. It’s not about the numbers; it’s about trust. And trust is earned, not auto-subscribed.

So, if you’re out there padding your newsletter numbers by signing up people who didn’t ask for it, just know, real growth isn’t built on spam. And eventually, people will see through the facade.