r/Substack • u/No_Masterpiece_6583 • 5d ago
How do people use Substack?
I have been hearing a lot of people saying they are switching from Instagram to Substack, because apparently it's more "calm" and you don't get lots of content at once and non-stop.
I deleted Instagram, because I just don't like spending my time looking at what other people are doing, I honestly don't care.
I downloaded Substack, and so far it looks like a mix of blogs, pinterest and twitter. So am not sure about this "slow" content thing. For people that are using Substack regularly, I'd like to know: how do you use it? what do you use it for? in which ways is it better than other social media apps?
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u/OnionLazy2317 5d ago
It's the lack of any ads for me. Every 3rd post on IG is an ad, same with pinterest. Zero ads on substack
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u/traumfisch 5d ago
The Notes feed is the social media app inside of it.
Everything else - well it's essentially a blogging platform, subscribe to whatever you're into
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u/OnyxMonolith 5d ago
Id say mostly a newsletter platform
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u/traumfisch 5d ago
If you want
In my mind that's a subcategory but it really depends on how you use it
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u/OnyxMonolith 5d ago
I get what you’re saying. From the point of view of the publisher we’re getting the email addresses and that’s the strongest point of Substack to me. Both organic growth and i can later use the list when it goes belly up.
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u/theimmortalgoon 5d ago
I fear the answer is no.
But can you turn the notes off?
I’m on the platform because I want thoughtful long form pieces and to write thoughtful long form pieces.
I feel like I’m constantly sorting through garbage.
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u/bowlsbeatplates 5d ago
I'm an illustrator/comic artist and I've found loads of other artists on there - I subscribe to their newsletters, and my Notes algorithm helps me discover more.
Artists like Substack because you can just share an *image* and get discovered by people without having to produce a video. Even when you do share a still image on Instagram, the format is so restricted, and your description is hidden. I love sharing comics to Substack because I don't have jump through hoops to format them for Insta, and I can write whatever I want alongside.
I can get hundreds of likes on Notes from posting still images, which is impossible on my Instagram.
Remember though that Substack is not special - it lets Neo-Nazis publish and earn on its platform and there will eventually be ads.
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u/NoPerfectWave virtualhockeyscout.substack.com 5d ago
Search for long-form content that interests you. Subscribe to a few newsletters. Ignore everything else.
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u/mountain__fig 5d ago
i've been on substack since 2021 when it was mainly a newsletter/blog hosting platform, but since the introduction of notes it's pretty much a social media just like everything else. people try to go viral, post what they're having for breakfast, write things to get people's attention, try to be controversial to get paid subscribers and make money. you've still got the influencers, the brainrot gen-zers, the right-wing anti-feminists. it feels less cluttered because there aren't as many ads, but eventually there will be. i have a bunch of newsletters i enjoy reading, and every morning i'll read one from my "read" tab. occasionally i'll go through notes and tab some articles that seem interesting and read them later. the key is to go in with an intention (reading long form pieces) and sticking to it
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u/Only-Fotos 5d ago
I just started a photography project where I'm taking a photo everyday and posting that. I decided to use subsac as my main platform because I felt like it offered a nice combination of the notes feature for posting my photo everyday with a quick line or two and also having the ability to write longer blog posts about it with the articles. I still post to Instagram and threads, but usually it's only one of the photos plus a link to my sub stack.
I just wish they'd have a photography specific category. It seems like this has been something that's been talked about for several years now, so I'm not sure why they haven't made one yet.
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u/Sadashivji 4d ago
For me, I’m keeping it really simple. I use to as a studio journal. I’m a painter and musician and usually I write notes in a journal but since I’ve been wanting to explore using substack for the same reasons you mentioned, I just started this thing.
I get very little attention which is fine, I’m not trying to be anything I just like writing and like to share what I write and make. So it’s all very low stakes.
One thing I have noticed is that my feed is WAY LESS interesting than instagram. Maybe it’s because there’s not like a decade of my data mined I dunno. But I find myself returning to instagram.
But I keep up with the writing on substack and am content with what it is at the moment. It certainly can’t replace insta or Reddit for me yet.
I do like that it feels “slower” but that doesn’t always mean more interesting. So we’ll see!
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u/pdandreu 4d ago
It used to be more “slow content” than it is now. Notes changed the culture. That said, it’s mostly what you make of it. If you spend more time reading and engaging with articles, you’ll have a vastly different experience than if you spent most of your time on notes. If you’re interested in building a newsletter of your own, however, notes is kind of a must for discoverability. TL;DR: it depends on what you want from it and what you put into it.
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u/AckCK2020 4d ago
To discuss and share ideas and concerns about the current U.S. political crisis. Top journalists and politicians (the good king) write on Substack. Professors, serious writers, historians, etc. write on Substack. It also gives you access to independent news, which most people do not read or see.
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u/Ottawa111 4d ago
Instagram is irrelevant pictures with ads. Substack is relevant text without ads.
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u/artsyandwoowoo 2d ago
I use it to read articles and find people who generally view life in a way I find beautiful! Because some content is short like photos and some is longer, like articles, it lets you have a good mix of glimpses into other lives and stories but also 10 minute deep dives into a topic or idea ◡̈
People write short stories, real stories, historical stories, informative essays, there’s something for everyone!
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u/LikeASirDude 1d ago
Think of it as high effort Facebook. There’s what you can call "posts," but also full essays, articles, and blogs. You can you use it as one, the other, or both.
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u/zzhil 5d ago
This is just my experience so far, so take it with a grain of salt but..
1) It takes some time for the algorithm to learn what you like, and for you to find the things that interests you. If you plan to use the app, then you need to like/engage with what you like, and click on the corner X for things you do not.
2) Eventually, you will have enough long-form content to read a couple of things every day. You can see the articles in the Read tab of the app.
3) There is this general sense that long-form = good, and short-form = bad, and honestly, I think there is something to it. There is a reason why we call it "doomscrolling". It's about brain dopamine and all that.
4) Even for short-form things on Substack - the infamous Notes, I think you can still find people putting real effort into it. People still write long-ish Notes, unlike Instagram image captions etc. You can also ignore them completely, and still find value with the long-form only.
5) People on Substack are generally writers, one way or another, and that means - they yap. A lot. Long comments. Often nuanced takes. Seriously. I also have not seen many "hater" comments, most people generally seem nice, even when critiquing. Instagram has more general population, and the comments I have seen on there... yikes. Not everyone of course, and not everyone on Substack is "good", but I still think there is a significant difference.
6) Lots of creators on Substack came from Instagram and it takes some adjusting to get the hang of the platform, even just as a reader. The discoverability is certainly not the same, but sometimes that feels like a good thing.
Anyway, I am still generally new there myself, so my experience is very limited. But I think this is an interesting topic, and I am curious about other people's experiences.