Substack Notes is a new space where you can publish short-form posts and share ideas with other writers and readers on Substack. We rolled out the product this week to all writers and readers.
Commonly asked questions: How is Notes different from Chat?Where do my notes show up?When I post a note, how are my readers notified? And more.
If you posted your first note but haven’t let your subscribers know yet, now is a great time to do so. After you send your first note, you will see a template in your dashboard to announce to your subscribers that you are using Notes. Checkout great announcements from Colin Meloy, Larry G. Maguire, Karen Christensen, and Ted Gioia.
Hey writers! We're excited to see so many of you in Notes. Over the next few months we will continue to iterate and grow the product together.
The Substack team is signing off today but we will be back next week at the same time. In the meantime, we encourage writers to stick around after the hour and continue the conversation together.
The substack instructional materials said that immediately after I posted by first note, I would receoive a "template" which would enable me to notify all of my subscribers that I had published a note.
After I published my first note, Something flashed on my screen, momentarilty, and Then vanished.
The bottom line: I want the template, subtsack had promulaged, which notifies your subscribers that you have publshjed a note
I wrote abou this. Quite predictably, no one got back to me.
SECPOND ISSUE:
In the past, I had participated in substack office hours. I subscribed and then, at the time office hours was due to commence, I went to my GOOGLE CALENDAR AND CLICKED On the link, to office hourse, which appeared on my calendar. NOW THESE LNKS NO LONGER APPEAR ON MY CALENDAR.
Office hours is scheduled to commence in LESS THAN ONE HOUR. Howevef, there is no link, in my calendar, re office hours. I am subscribed to office hours, but I need help with the logistics of actually connecting to office hours. Without the link on my calendar, I don't know how to actually access office hours
I'd say there are several issues with Notes thus far:
1. It's hard to keep track of your own notes, as there isn't a menu for them. I find it cumbersome to constantly click on my profile, where the Notes are interspersed with my stories.
2. I think there should be more separation btw Notes and other parts of the interface. For instance, I want to be able to follow writers' notes without subscribing and not receiving notifications every time a note is posted. There are way too many notifications now to keep track of.
3. I'm confused - do 'likes' and 'comments' in Notes count towards the posts when they are linked in notes? Like, if I get a comment in Notes, is it duplicated in the post comments and vice versa? Because that's the impression I'm getting due to the aforementioned lack of separation.
4. I feel that Notes seem to be most beneficial to writers with already established/large subscriber bases. More needs to be done to even out the algorithmic playing field for smaller-tier writers.
#4 is a symptom of a larger Substack discoverability challenge for small authors. Searching inside of their "Explore" page tends to only surface posts from the biggest authors, even if smaller authors are writing more relevant posts.
I totally agree with #4. Substack has a tendency to help authors who do not need the help, because their subscriber base is already large. It would be great to have a more equalized approach, such as Twitter/Instagram's hashtag system, or even a search feature. Tbh, I will more than likely ignore this feature unless it's fixed.
Ditto - me too. I asked this question awhile back on how to connect with communities we are connected with as hashtags aren’t available so are we all supposed to have hours everyday to read through notes to find one out of a hundred (if we’re lucky) that we feel like we connect with? I don’t have the time or patience.
I feel the same way - I'm too busy writing to try read notes or scroll through a million notifications to find something that might be relevant/useful/important.
I am glad I’m not alone. I’m not understanding how this will be helpful unless you already have a significant amount of subscribers and they see your notes. As bad as I would love to make new connections, not knowing if someone is interested in hearing about my message or cause will take even more time. It seems like it would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Hopefully they come up with a way to connect like hashtags.
I totally agree. And I think it's going to make the people with huge follower numbers get more subscribers. I don't see how it'll help emerging writers.
It would be logical that Substack would add a Notes area to the navigation on your home screes as they did for Chat. This would be a nice addition as it would provide a single space for a person's notes to be found.
Point 2 is important. Right now people who are used to the follow concept of other social networks can follow writers on Notes without understanding that doing so exposes their email address to the writer via the newsletter subscriber interface. That's a privacy issue.
@mikhail, I’m not sure I agree with you regarding point number 4. I mean, yes, people with large publications have more visibility, but that’s simply because they have more subscribers. It’s not because of an algorithm. As I understand it, Notes shows posts you make to the people who have subscribed to your publication or followed your Notes. For example, I happen to follow your Notes because of my interactions with you over there. You continue to introduce me to new people every time you reply to one of their posts because that reply puts their post in my newsfeed. That’s how the ‘algorithm’ works… or at least, that’s how I understand it to work.
You (and me for that matter) are able to interact with authors who have larger subscription bases than us. When we do their followers will see our replies. If those authors reply to us, then they show up in the feeds of people who follow us. This approach to claiming visibility is more manual than the system simply giving it to you, but it does provide you with much more agency and power than a gift from the system ever would. Additionally, it allows you the opportunity to present yourself exactly how you want.
I understand how it works. And I'm not asking the system to 'give it to me.' I just want the chance to be able to better discover/be discovered by other users of the platform. When a handful of authors are able to get an additional thousand subscribers in 24 hours via Notes by virtue of having already had thousands of subscribers before that, I'd say that the promise of Notes to help improve discovery overall isn't quite working.
It was nigh impossible to get discovered before Substack thankfully updated its search engine, which would keep small or un-monetized pubs without a built-in audience almost invisible, and introduced the recommendation feature.
Sorry. I was addressing you because I was replying to your comment directly, but some of the things I was saying were based off of comments made by other people. This was my mistake and I apologize for not having been more clear. Seriously. I am sorry about that.
You raise good points about how Substack changed the algorithm in the past to improve discoverability. I’m not opposed to that, but I wanted to make sure everyone did understand the actions that they can take right now (again, not for you specifically on that part).
Jim Legum who posted the screenshot saying he’d gained 3500 subscribers said later on that part of that was because he did have a couple of high profile posts that were kind of going viral at the same time. So, he’s not really certain how many subscribers came exclusively from Notes versus the posts. That being said, several other authors have reported similar experiences so you may be on to something.
I know I’ve increased my subscriber count by about 17%. That may sound impressive, but there’s a reason I gave you a percentage instead of hard numbers. That reason is that the numbers aren’t impressive, but the growth rate is enough to get me excited and I do attribute that growth to Notes..
It will be interesting to see what types of solutions they come up with to address the problem.
9.6% increase in the last 24 hours, which, considering it was a SUPER busy day and I didn't have as much time to play with it as I would on a weekend, isn't too shabby. And I found some newsletters that I'm genuinely interested in. We're number obsessed. Percentage is a far better gauge AND it's important to see what happens with those numbers. Will open rate stay the same or go down? I want more subscribers, but I also want them to be engaged, feel compelled to share my work with others, and come back for more.
“What will happen with those numbers?” That’s a question I have too. Part of me thinks that at least some of the people who may have subscribed to me may have thought they were subscribing to my notes instead of my newsletter. Only time will tell.
But I can also see that if you are playing the long game and understanding that for most people, this is a long game, it could make a significant difference over time. And I have found newsletters I didn't know existed and I'm excited about them. I would tell everyone that yes, there is always room for improvement, but I am more optimistic than I've been in a long time about both writing and my social media engagement. I'm hoping to develop better habits and grow as a writer, reader, and thinker. As long as Substack continues to be focused on that mission as well, I say it's progress.
No, problem, John. I took no offense. And I'm not saying I haven't seen any sub growth at all. I have. But I'm also not sure how much of that is actually attributable to Notes. So, it might be a little early to gauge just what sort of effect Notes has on discoverability. In any case, I just want it to improve as a whole.
Great points, especially #1 and #4. I would say that Substack would benefit, in the long run, from a sort of 'progressive subsidy' in the discovery algorithm that helps to surface authors with fewer readers.
I also think Notes could be improved with a mechanism that discourages endless scrolling.
Sure, scrolling is how folks discover more notes to read, but we also know that endless scrolling isn't good for anyone.
This seems like a classic opportunity for a creative constraint. The question would be how to disincentivize scrolling in a way that adds instead of subtracts value. It could just slow down, and then stop. This ‘friction’ could be an optional feature that could be turned off. Maybe it could go sort of ‘sideways’ into deeper content instead of endlessly further into scrollworld. I don’t even know that that might mean, but I like how it sounds.
I wonder if the Substack team considered non-endless scrolling in designing Notes…?
re 4: naturally, the big hitters will drown out the small fish (my substack is 4 weeks old today!). same as everywhere else. I expected nothing less. Maybe it will level itself out over time, but probably not. Hardly any bestsellers on this thread, are there? Only one thing you can do, continue to write, write, write! Good luck all.
Well done on Notes! Do the team have plans to boost notes or promote less known Stackers via the new feature? Noticing a lot of the big writers are very visible, makes complete sense - all in all Notes is fab!
As someone just starting recently on Substack, how do I get any visibility to my Notes?
I post, but nobody sees them. In my home feed I have large accounts I have not subscribed.
It seems if you have a large account, you get boosted, but if you have a small account how do you reach your target audience?
There seems no method for searching notes or tagging. So I can't find others having conversations on topics that I write about and they can't find me either.
Agree, sometimes I feel as I'm wearing an invisibility cloak and I don't know it... Ask questions or make comments that never get answered cuz i'm too small...sigh ;)
I’ve been thinking about this recently and part of me just wants to be true to my writing and those loyal people that have subscribed because they like my writing and if that means small then so be it because I don’t want to be a marketer or a salesperson, I just want to write. And you are not invisible. You are adding your work to the world. Good luck!
Totally agree with Dakara! I'd love to hear a bit of advice on this too. As a very smaller writer, I'd love to reach a bigger audience with Notea as it's a great form of short writing and conversation.
I would guess that somewhere on their agenda, as Notes grows, will be the ability to categorize Notes postings. Say for example if you were and artist or a writer of a particular genre, your notes could be in a general feed but also found under the genre you added to the note. (think hashtags, since the Dirty Bird doesn't own rights to using hashtags.)
I'd to post a challenge to the Substack algorithm team: rather than only boosting the writers with massive subscription bases, can you help boost the ones just starting out or with lower subscription numbers, as well? Otherwise we're always fighting an uphill battle no matter how good or insightful our content is. Perhaps the algorithm could base it on the type of content, or even a lottery system where random accounts get a little boost from time to time.
Would love others' thoughts on how to help the algorithm be a little more democratic!
I agree wholeheartedly. I'm excited about Notes, but the main feed is already appearing to be dominated by famous people with big followings on this or other platforms. I'm confused as to how that's happened when in theory there are a zillion new people posting notes - it does make it look like it's favoring of larger/famous accounts. That said, it's a great new platform with a lot of promise. We have gotten a bit of extra visibility so far this week and that's very nice to see. Hopefully we're able to grow and build with this new capability. - Vanessa
Agree. Starting out is hardwork, not that it should easy. However I guess there will be a tipping point when excitement and enthusiasm wanes if growth is slow, virtually static or rigor mortis has set in.
I strongly dislike the Bestsellers thread. Subscribed makes sense -- though it feels a little redundant -- and Home has been, thus far, very interesting (the most interesting part of Notes for me, right now), but Bestsellers is just a pure firehose that rewards the writers who need the exposure the least. I'd love to see that thread disappear.
I'd also love to see a thread that boosts writers who have smaller subscriber numbers -- a reverse of the badge system, basically. I realize Substack as a company makes less money from those writers and it doesn't behoove you to promote them in anywhere near the same capacity as the "bestsellers," but it would go such a long way -- I believe an astonishingly long way -- toward building goodwill in the community.
I totally agree about a thread that boosts those with smaller subscriber numbers because that is me (!) or maybe some sort of place we can go and not get lost on here!
This is what I'm hearing the most (and the most loudly) behind the scenes. Big feelings, including genuine anger, over Substack seeming to forget the folks with smaller subscriber numbers, once again.
I disagree, a little. I think instead of getting rid of it (I actually like it) I think there should be even more options, ones that are user-defined. So I could create a tab for science writers, for comedians, for recipes, and so on. I prefer to have more control over my feed rather than less.
I like the idea of promoting people who have fewer subscribers, though I'm not sure how that could be done, given how many there are. But it's a good idea if the folks at Substack can come up with some way to do it!
Incidentally, Substack has ways of helping smaller newsletters get more attention; you can contact bigger ones and ask about cross-promotion, for example, or use the Recommendations feature. I'm not saying that's a substitute or it's perfect or anything like that! But getting noticed is always an issue when you're starting out, and even people with bigger audiences (cough) struggle with it. It took me a long, long time to build up my audience. I've been writing on the web since 1993 and I still deal with it!
I know! I started four weeks ago. I am not complaining though. The community here is much better than any other platform I have been on prior. But I agree, big badge people helping out no badge people can help. Still, need to write content people want to read as well. 1993 is a long time. I remember using ytalk for the first time in the university computer pool (before irc).
I get what you're saying, but smaller writers relying on bigger names means relying on the goodwill of those writers. Some will share, but some won't because of a perceived competition. (Which is silly, but that doesn't make it less true.) Substack could have a more neutral stance, either finding ways to promote everyone through more in depth tabs, like you suggested, or just promoting no one.
Well, sure, unless someone starts big then you're always in some sense relying on people with wider clout to help. Heaven knows I did back in the day and still do! My point is that option is at least there, and it's always worth a shot.
I don't think it's in SS's (or anyone's) interest to promote no one, though I see your point. I don't think having the tab hurts, but I agree that it would be *better* to have a way to add one for lesser-known newsletters as well. I don't know how to do that equitably, but the coders behind SS are better at this than I am. :)
Good point, Phil -- I was thinking of the threads that Substack builds in natively (and you may be right that eliminating Bestsellers isn't the right choice, but I do think expanding the options would benefit more people). It would be awesome if each user could then customize threads based on categories of their own devising -- maybe topically, maybe something I can't even think of right now.
100% agree with this. Helping out the smaller names will only foster a stronger sense of community.
On the bright side, I do think short-form content allows writers to cover more topics than they would in their newsletter. I'll probably post random thoughts about music or food in addition to hockey content (my niche).
I totally agree with this! I think promoting smaller writers was one of the great things Substack did in the beginning and I'd love to see that again.
Bestsellers are already bestsellers--they don't need yet more free promotion. Maybe if Substack promotes smaller publications, they'll be come bestsellers, and then they still make money. If nothing else, I'd love to see the bestsellers thread disappear.
I found an artist while using Notes. If you haven't already 'met' him, you might enjoy The SneakyArt Post https://sneakyart.substack.com. Mechanical engineer, turned artist!
I think maybe people might think that "subscribe" means "follow notes" instead of subscribe to the person's substack? Also I'm interested in if open rates from these new Notes-based subscribers will be as high as from the traditional way.
Yes it just kinda felt odd as this doesn’t normally happen - maybe folks made snap decisions? I got an email from someone saying they never signed up and could I unsubscribe them so that was weird!
If I can be forward enough to offer advice to people just starting off on Notes, I’d like to make a suggestion. The content you see in your feed is restricted to the people to whom you have subscribed and the people with whom those authors (the ones you’ve subscribed to) interact. So, if they reply to someone it’ll show up your newsfeed. Several people have mentioned that they are seeing posts from large publishers that they don’t follow and they believe this is because Substack is promoting their content. I believe it’s because someone you DO FOLLOW has replied to one o their posts.
My recommendation for people who are concerned about a lack of visibility is that they use the desktop version of Notes and start following the Notes of people who have made a comment or post that has interested them. The more frequently you follow the Notes of other people, the more content will appear in your newsfeed, and it becomes more likely that something will elicit a comment from you. When you interact with someone else’s post it gives you more visibility and new people will discover you, your Notes, and ultimately your newsletter.
You can only follow the Notes of other people through the Desktop version. Find the heart icon on the far left side of the screen at the bottom of someone’s post or comment and look to the opposing side. When you see the three dots, click there, and then choose See More from Username. That will allow you to follow their Notes, but does not subscribe you to their newsletter. You might want to do that as well once you get to know them, but I like starting with their Notes first.
ah.. so if someone I am subscribed to comments on someone else's note, I will see their notes? that makes a lot of sense actually. The best way to get new people to read your notes would then be to have other people comment on them, but then they need to see it first. Sounds like having other writers (with subscribers) as your subscribers and therefore as potential commenters on your posts would be the best thing for getting more people to see your notes.
@robert, as I understand it that is correct. I meant to mention above that I’m totally guessing about how these things work. I don’t work at Substack and no one there has confirmed my theories, but based off of what I have observed that’s correct.
That’s why I think it’s so important that people follow the Notes of other authors or readers (whoever) who interest them. It makes the platform stickier and the more you interact with other people there the more visible you become.
I'm enjoying Notes so far! I've added some new subs, I've found some cool new Substacks, and the conversations in my comments section seem to be more lively. One suggestion, though. It would be nice if Notes was integrated into the data dashboard. I'd like to see how many times a story is "restacked." I assume that data is currently included in shares, but it would be nice to break it out. Also, it would be cool to see Notes as the subscription source when you're looking at attribution. That would help a lot because it would give me an idea of how much time I want to invest in Notes. Thanks, Substack team!
In a reply below I mention the idea of user-defined tabs (besides the default Home, Subscribed, and Bestseller tabs), using keywords from the newsletters. I'd love to have tabs for science writers, entertainment critics, recipes, and so forth. Here's the reply: https://on.substack.com/p/office-hours-notes-74/comment/14637136 Thanks!
Yes, I agree. I write about the scientific research into kindness and send out my newsletter once/week. There are other things I'd like to share with my subscribers, on more of a daily basis, so I'm looking at Notes as a way to do that. I'm just not quite sure yet how to get my subscribers to come to Notes to see what's going on and to participate. I need to better understand the subscriber interface.
Actually, in terms of kindness to myself and perhaps to my readers, I get burned out just writing long-form pieces, which sometimes end up looking too academic. The new Notes might bring kindness and relief for me and my audience, as well as fresh, in the moments, inspiration.
I know what you mean. Sometimes I get too academic with my kindness research. Then when I look back at what I wrote, I realize that I would never talk with people that way. So I try to read each post out loud, like a podcast, and that helps me put my thoughts into something that a human would have written!
PS: Kindness to yourself.....definitely super important! 💜
I'm currently using the space to write about an impossible project I've been working on since January. But that's coming to an end and the smiles will return soon! :)
I just subscribed to Three Small Smiles. I love your concept. Your Broadway project sounds like it was exhilarating, exhausting, and eye-opening. I'm happy for you that you have found peace with the conclusion. (I did snoop around a bit lol)
I also dug into your archives to find Three Small Smiles. What a wonderful idea....and I can totally relate to feeling, some weeks, like it's hard to smile. We are human. Did you know that we are all born with a negativity bias? (I digress because I wrote about little human problem!).
I'm excited to follow along with your Three Small Smiles journey. I'm sure I'll learn from you. 💜
Same for me, Heather. My readers are fine with email and so haven't been interested in Chat or Notes. But maybe if Notes gets more popular and supplants Twitter, things will shift.
Agreed. I hold my nose and do self-promotion on the other annoying socials (fb, twitter, etc) but the beauty of Substack is that anything I post (like this comment) is already linked up to my profile with the things I've written. So I'd rather use my wordiness to talk about, oh, the book I'm reading or some crazy thing I saw.
Yes, I'm looking for creative ways to use the platform - like micro stories on the regular, or interesting little observations. Polls? Something that adds value. Ideas welcome!
I do like the idea of sharing other Substack writers posts here. Just kind of extending a conversation. “Hey, look at this cool thing.” More reader- than writer-focused.
Yeah, I think the beauty of notes is that you can flesh yourself out as a human being. Make friends, be part of a community. I'm on Notes because I like to hang out. I get enough of everything else, everywhere else.
Agreed. I’ve posted two notes so far to share a recommendation or link & start a conversation about something that is not about my newsletter. But the feed is full of “check out my newsletter” introduction posts, not unlike the Shoutout thread. It’s tiresome and overwhelming.
So far, I’ve had genuine-feeling conversations on about half the things I’ve shared, particularly with the authors of posts I restacked. I agree it seems redundant for writers to share their own posts in Notes!
I was part of the Beta program. Notes is beyond awesome. Getting visibility happens when you post on there and connect with other writers. It's less about spotlighting and more about connection and community. It's about subscribing to the newsletters you like and restacking quotes from them to share with others. That said, it's also about sharing the amazing work you're doing. I discovered so many great Substacks and hope that continues! I'm happy to field any questions though I'm hardly an expert on the backend.
I’m still figuring that out. I think the main thing is to be authentic and true to yourself. Your subscribers will be drawn to that. I’m not a social media person, so I’m not going to post ten times a day. That’s just me.
As a new Substack writer, and someone who never played with Twitter much - how can I Add the most value for other Notes users and for myself? Should I focus on getting subscribers to my Substak so they can see my notes, or are there easier ways to gain visibility? I'm interested in helping others, sharing ideas, and collaboration.
Hi Paul. Great name by the way. You can add value by choosing a great niche, finding your tribe, and writing to help your cohorts. Unfortunately this takes time. So if you play the long game, answer questions in forums like this one, contact others that write in your niche, cross post, ask to do interviews, ask questions, take advice, be consistent and follow people who write answers to questions you have - your subscriber list will grow. Just not by tomorrow. It starts slowly, then all at once. Read "So You Just Started a Substack" (https://pau1.substack.com/p/start) Good luck
I’m thinking I may have failed at the first hurdle as I don’t have a niche. I just write about life! But you’ve made me think that this is a bit like a business I tried to start. It didn’t work either due to lack of niche! I guess maybe good writing just isn’t enough...
Just. Keep. Writing. It's the same in the music world - "maybe good music just isn't enough." It's absolutely true! Especially because there are writers / bands / etc. out there with half the talent but they PROMOTE and hustle and do the song and dance...
It's okay to not do all that. Just keep writing. Show up for your audience, your fans. They love what you do.
Hi Deborah! "There is no fail-only do" ~ Yoda Davinci
It's easier to align with a group (niche) than with everybody. But there are some very popular general interest newsletters here. So there is no right or wrong way to do things. And all I know is what I've done. Jeff Bezos started with a niche (books) and then branched out. Now he sells everything, and it works for Amazon. You can always start in a niche, then iterate, change, pivot whatever you want. You're the boss. Try different things. "Days Like This" is a cool name. It draws me in and I wonder, days like what? Good luck on your journey!
I agree with the value of developing your niche. My whole professional career has been in a niche. As I began my Substack, I realized that even my niche was much too broad, and I needed to focus more on where my writing will have readers and benefit others rather than just doing it for my artistic development. The new Notes, I hope, will be of great value to me, as I tend to take too long to write pieces I feel will be of interest, whereas with notes, I can put out my thoughts and inspiration in smaller bits as they come up. It will also help me better identify and communicate with my audience.
Awk thank you for this, this is very encouraging! Someone with lots of subscribers on here told me my niche could be where I come from - Belfast - but I wasn't sure about that at all as I try not to write about that! Hence Days Like This which is a Van Morrison song sung at one of our very many peace events in Northern Ireland! P.S. I do agree niche is best if you have one. I still remember the example of a successful Substack that had started from nothing that was shared with me as a good example of how to make it on here. It was about wildfire firefighting and I thought well that's a niche I'll never have!
I guess Brexit really blocked up Northern Ireland. Would Scottish independence help or hinder Ireland?? Excuse my ignorance, we don't get near enough news from Ireland or Scotland Deborah
Gosh now there's a question. I don't know if Scottish independence would help as I'm not knowledgable enough. Basically trade between Northern Ireland (UK) and Republic of Ireland (not UK) was simple before Brexit because both were in the EU. Once Northern Ireland left the EU (along with rest of UK) there were lots of rules about trade and checks at the border into Republic of Ireland and new trade deals have had to be made. Hopefully things are getting sorted out but it's taken time. It's complicated for us because we're on an island - there's a sea between us and the rest of the UK and not between us and the Republic of Ireland. Thanks for asking.
It does overwhelming. I love writing here each week, know who I want to connect with but it’s become really crowded. I’m getting lost in different conversations/threads.
Haha. Yes, I struggled to find your reply to me. And I expect you may never see this or the other reply I just wrote. It’s weird how Substack can’t make those notifications link directly to the reply they’re notifying you about.
I’m sure you haven’t failed, Deborah. As for niches... An interesting thing is that I’m feeling like being a niche writer, or perceived as such, holds back uptake of my newsletter and my notes. I write about work, workplaces, and worker wellbeing, and I’m not sure there are many members of that niche on Substack yet. Depending on the scope of one’s niche, there really needs to be tremendous critical mass to achieve success.
So maybe the grass is always greener... niche-wise?
That's very interesting as I would have thought that having a niche would make it easier to attract people to your newsletter and what you write about seems very topical. I think the advice re niche holds up in some ways but I also think Substack is currently going really well for more well-known writers, journalists, editors, those who already have large numbers of Instagram followers and it is about people subscribing to them rather than what they specifically write about. There's a thing about your voice, personality, reputation too and people being attracted to that regardless of what you write about....
Bob, as a matter of interest, do you share links to your Substack on LinkedIn? Your Substack looks very well set up. I find with LinkedIn, that people will click and read my writing on Substack but not necessarily subscribe.
Thanks, Deborah. Yes, I do share on LinkedIn. I have a substantial presence there and, of course, it seems like the perfect place for my niche. It’s the primary source for my (admittedly small) subscriber base. But, to your point, considering my presence there and the extent to which I work that angle, it’s almost amazing how few of my LinkedIn followers do subscribe.
By the way, based on my LinkedIn stats, I do have reason to wonder whether the LinkedIn algorithm, which is smarter than people give it credit for, suppresses posts that include links to Substack.
That said, LinkedIn has changed a lot over the last couple of years. People there are now much more driven to scroll and click rather than consume content.
Bob, you'll be pleased I found this reply! And that makes sense that you have a substantial presence on LinkedIn. I 100% agree with everything you say here, particularly re the LinkedIn algorithm. I don't get the traction I used to get there either (although I was never substantial!). Also to your other point, I am not sure how you appeal to those who are inclined to scroll, who want easy satisfaction and aren't interested in even clicking and reading never mind going to any depth of thought or engagement. I am far more likely to get likes for a photo of my dog than my writing!
Good writing will never be enough. This platform’s best content remains undiscovered. Substack’s features work well for those with huge followings...like notes, I reckon.
That’s because Substack still doesn’t have a search or discovery function. There are no keywords or hashtag feature. Substack also doesn’t feature “undiscovered” or “low” subscriber newsletters. You’ll only see success stories. Take for instance the useless reply in this thread by Substack. He didn’t actually say anything useful to you, other than “copy & paste” positive reply.
Yes agree re the search and discovery or some sort of tagging as to what specific posts are about - maybe I am missing this but when I publish on Medium (which I still do as well) I can tag each piece with at least 5 tags as to what it's about.
Perfect - reading and responding to comments and offering support and advice is my happy place - so that will be easy :) And I have the patience! (Love your Substack too, BTW).
Thanks for the sub! I've subscribed to your as well. The beauty of notes is that anyone in the Substack ecosystem can see them - if they are signed up. Millions of eyeballs. As your Substack Newsletter grows, I think the algorithm will start to work in your favor.😀
Hey Paul, I think just interacting with other writers, posting things that interest you, and being a good member of the community is the best way to add value. I do hope that you will share links to your articles from time to time because I follow people’s Notes first and then once I get a read on whether I enjoy their content or not I’ll consider their newsletter. So, those weekly or semi-regular links to your latest posts help convert people like me who might be lurking in the background and reading notes first. Does that make sense?
Love love LOVE this advice. No one owes anyone an audience, or a subscription! Absolutely a long game.. just keep being nice, helpful, write for the subscribers you already have, and enjoy the ride!
I’ve said this somewhere else too on these comments but I wanted to add here that I would love to see more support for new writers to increase invisibility as most of the added features such as notes tend to just enhance the visibility of already established writers with large numbers of subscribers. I can’t imagine ever being restacked but it must be a nice feeling!!
I just restacked you :) But yes, it would be very helpful to have a guide that breaks down the key channels we can use to get visibility and engagement - I am very happy to put the effort in - I'm just not quite sure exactly where that effort should go.
Thank you Paul! Yes agree this type of guide would be really useful. I used to get more traction to my writing via social media and when I used Medium but it’s become harder and harder and I’ve reached the point where I feel like maybe it’s ok to just be appreciated by my small number of subscribers and just write for them rather than try to conquer the world of writing!
I'm so with you on this, Deborah. There's a song lyric that goes, "I'd rather be nine people's favorite thing, than a hundred people's ninth favorite thing" and I've been using that as a guide more and more lately. I feel more fulfilled when I appreciate the couple hundred people who love me rather than get down on myself that the number isn't more significant. It's not always easy, but it's always worth it! Off to check out your 'Stack!
Yes let's hang on to the couple of hundred people who love us! Plus I can't imagine having 20,000 and having to keep feeding them and replying to them all. I like a quieter life!
Paul, I have said before so you may have seen my comment. I think one of the greatest visibility methods is a distinct photo and site name (short,catchy and relatable)We may tend to be 'attached' to our original name and other profile bits. But as I wrote in my recent article,"You don't keep words in the dark" they must be shared and seen...why else would one write online or in any public arena
I’m planning on using Notes to meet more people and share the occasional photograph or short form content. I think Notes just made everything more vibrant!
Correct me if I'm incorrect, but Notes looks like a separate thread of thoughts and messaging, separate from our main content, that does not get emailed but instead lives exclusively in the sidebar on our dashboard. It feels like yet another thread we have to manage -- in addition to social media for example. Is this accurate? What do you all think, esp. those using Notes and seeing success?
On the one hand I agree, as I find myself spending a lot of time there. On the other, I really like that I can share information on more topics than I would be able to with my long-form content. There are some issues with larger Substacks getting promoted over smaller ones, though, that I would like to see improved.
This is my observation as well. I am enjoying commenting on interesting posts. I have shared a suggestion and asked a question of the developers.
Had some banter back and forth with other writers resulting in my subscribing to them and they me.
We can put photos and clips from recent long posts to entice people to our stacks.
I just began writing mid January and am 2 subscribers shy of 100! With 2 paid subscribers. Consistent posting, sharing my work on other platforms and interacting with writers in similar or complimentary genres has been my approach.
All these really well known writers started somewhere and got their large following through their own blood, sweat, and tears. Some of them may even boost one of is if our stories reach them and are worthy of tagging their names to it.
Scott Britton has a new stack where he shared ideas to grow your stack. Here’s the link.
The lack of vitriol is most important to me, and learning about so many Stacks I would not have known about...and subscribing to them as well. I have gained subscribers, too. On the downside, I see that it is still easy to get sucked in to the immediacy of the Notes platform, but I think that will calm down for me as I find a reasonable rhythm.
One thing I love about Notes is the ability to upload photos to complement stories you've published. As someone who also enjoys taking photos, it's always tough to choose the ones that'll make it into the newsletter. Now, I can share the newsletter as a note with up to six additional photos.
Yes Christian, I love photos too. I have been using Upslash mostly other than my own creations and snaps. I create captions for photos sometimes go down the rabbit hole there 😊 I post photo captions on Instagram @bestdlines I also create what I term 'Picture Stories'
I was a skeptical going in, but so far Notes has proven a great way to connect with other writers, boost their work, and find new Substacks. Great energy in the crowd as well.
Yes Kevin I just jumped on yesterday. Let's see how things go. I will look for yours and all other writers I spot there and of course comment, share and all that there 😊
I must say, Notes is a BLAST! I feel like the landscape of interesting Substacks has just opened up for me and I can discover new things more easily. I am finding it a bit hard to stay on top of notifications. Can the app ding your phone when someone sends you a note? Also, if someone clicks "See more" from me, but hasn't subscribed to my newsletter, will I be notified that they added me to their see more list? I'd love to know how many people are following me and also get a chance to follow ppl back!
I’ve been wondering whether I want to be able to see what my follow counts are or not. I kind of like just following anyone who intrigues me without worrying about if someone is following me back or if I lost a follower. That’s freeing.
Follower count is not really why I want to know. It's more to know so that I can follow someone back who I might not have thought to. I've had some nice interactions with folks and I try to follow everyone but would hate to miss someone by accident and knowing who has followed me would help with that
I'd love for replies to have a default "@username" so you're aware that you're replying to someone specific and not posting your own standalone post in the app.
Yesterday, I ended up accidentally replying to a writer who I've never heard of / am not subscribed to / isn't connected to anyone I know or subscribe to. My post was about my own thoughts on the public vs. subscribed feeds and not wanting the ability to block on public feeds. My post didn't show up in my Notes feed, so I thought it just glitched and didn't post. Turns out, I'd mistakenly posted it as a reply to a specific person who I had never even heard of but who had somehow shown up in my feed. I didn't know that because it didn't @ that person. The result was that person immediately going Twitter-esque on me and putting words into my mouth, and their friend instantly jumping in to attack, too. Good times.
I explained that I hadn't meant to direct it at them personally and ended up just deleting everything, but these are the sort of interactions that make me absolutely despise social media and never want to use it again.
Please make it more apparent when you're replying to someone, as opposed to making your own post, to avoid mistakes and childish outcomes in the future.
Agree with the @ feature and so sorry to hear you had that unpleasant experience here. 🐣 sending you a baby chicken to make you feel better. No malice intended only love
A fan of notes. I really like the quick thoughts, news, and research that I can share throughout the day. Let's create a thread to connect with those in the same field. I'm in the entertainment space: podcasts, books, TV, magazines, short form content, and more.
Hey I write about podcasts, too — but for the people who work in podcasting, so it's less about entertainment and more behind-the-scenes of the industry. But it's nice to see someone mention another newsletter about podcasts here! And I just hit subscribe!
Am I wrong in observing that the cross-posting feature has been replaced by this 'restacking' thing leading to Notes? I haven't tried it yet because I don't want to go down that rabbit hole.
If so, this seems short-sighted, as I have no intention of following links to or from Notes, whereas I will likely read an entire piece that comes to my inbox from a trusted source.
In fact, I have no intention of using Notes at all. I have enough distractions from my writing and reading already, plus a job and a life. I understand that I "should" use it to self-promote like everyone else, but there was a reason I never used Twitter, either, and I fail to see how this is more worthwhile.
It is still possible to cross-post. Open the post online and click the three dots at the top near 'share'. The cross-post feature is in the drop-down box.
Thanks, I see it now. Guess I’m just disappointed that it’s been hidden in favor of the restack feature. Readers like me will never see those posts now, but maybe that’s the point…
Probably your thoughts are sound wisdom for me, who also has a very busy life, and little need for more distraction from my writing. Part of my philosophy is that some distraction is good for us and that we sometimes need them to get perspective. I have been on Twitter and have always felt it wastes time. So plan to leave that platform, but I may play some with Notes.
OK, I like Notes. I do agree with a lot of the comments about how it can be expanded and help writers with smaller followings. BUT, I am tremendously impressed by this interface, how fun and easy it is, and I have a hunch the launch was moved up because of "pushback" from a certain other social media owner. And if I'm correct in that assumption, this is even more impressive. I would like to know the difference between chat and notes. And, I want to be able to invite my friends on that "other site" to come to Substack without the pressure of having to write a newsletter. Can we form Notes groups? Can we allow searches for friends? Can we have themed notes? Like "Nevada Education," and all my teacher peeps and better ed advocates can come over? These are just questions. I'm sure you have a long list of things you are planning. Let me reiterate: GREAT JOB.
I understand the appeal of Notes, in that it’s like Twitter but nicer…but I didn’t come to Substack because I was looking for an alternative to Twitter. I came because I like to write (and read) newsletters. I like sending them out to people who have asked for them, and getting just the ones I want in my inbox, as opposed to checking another app. I do like discovering new writers via other writers but to be honest, i don’t subscribe unless I know I’ll read it regularly and I can only read so many, so I actually don’t go looking for new ones.…and I definitely don’t care about popularity in choosing the letters I want to read, and notes seems to boost the big guys…so I guess it’s just not for me! Which is ok, as long as using it doesn’t basically become mandatory, you know?
Substack offers podcasts, and chat, and.. and... and I don't use either of those. I've toyed with Notes a bit, and okay, whatever. Cool! But the focus will absolutely still be on the newsletter!
I want to learn more about how the substack algorithms determine what can and can't be seen. On the faq it says that subscribers + subscribers of people who recommend you see your notes, but I also see notes from other people sometimes. How is it determined what this 'other' pool of notes is that you see?
I think notes seems like a great feature but I can’t actually get my head round who actually sees any notes I post - I am presuming only those who subscribe to my Substack and who have also enabled notes?? I think notes may work best for those who already have lots of subscribers so I’m not clear how it helps me with my small number of subscribers! Hence I have not used it yet as I do not want to die embarrassingly and have no one like my first note!! Sort of think it’s added to my imposter syndrome on here...
Yes I totally agree. It’s a great feature if you are already fairly well established. It is really hard posting out into the void, I totally empathise. I’d like to see something that really supports new writers to get some visibility. Even the recommended read suggestions from what I can see are more established writers recommending each other. It can feel like a closed shop. Gosh I’m having a very cynical Thursday. Too much rain recently!
Yes Dakara, I used that very word 'void' and it actually got a direct and heart felt comment from a sub. I felt my writing was 'falling on deaf ears' at the time. Subs and #s have increased significantly but only after I made some changes. You have to stay fluid and monitor any fluctuations. I wrote my 'Precious Words' article for the benefit of all writers here wherever
like I said, if you have other writers recommending you, then their subscribers also see your notes as far as I understand. But there are also some other things going on that I would like to understand better.
I'm telling my readership that daily I pop in things related to the newsletter that I find and I think may be of interest to them. 'snippets' is my description.
So far, I've restacked a bunch of articles from other Substackers, made an announcement about an upcoming podcast, and shared a cute puppy pic from when my doggie was little. And also left a few comments on other people’s notes.
Posting the other writers’ work is something I haven’t done with my publication at large, but within the Substack ecosystem it felt safer and lower pressure, and it started some nice conversations.
In the future, I also plan to share quotes from things I am reading and plan to share in my publication.
I haven’t sent an invite to my subscribers, and I don’t think I will. For now, I’m just seeing it as another way to meet other Substackers.
Will there be any metatagging (i.e. hashtags) to curate notes within a broader conversation or community? How can I use Notes to amplify my newsletter among a specific audience?
We are discussing options for this. We haven't landed on a specific mechanism, but we recognize the need for creating groups/sub-groups within the space.
I agree that there needs to be some kind of mechanism for this. No idea what the best approach would be, but I have faith in you, Cain. You’re our only hope. Please excuse me for quoting Princess Leia. We’re watching far too much Star Wars in my house.
I am noticing that there is an emerging trend in Notes where authors are using as a way of broadcasting their subscription numbers. I have to say I find this tiresome.
Agreed, but I think it's people who are also trying to show the potential impact of using Notes. As someone who is desperately trying to deprogram myself from obsession with numbers, that is a bit tiresome and discouraging. But otherwise I'm loving the experience.
And thinking in terms of a community of readers that keep coming back for more instead of just reading one piece and moving on with their life. I also wouldn't mind if more of them were sharing with others, which is why I LOVE the "Restack" option that we have now. It's a much cleaner way to share the writing of others (that I admire) with the bigger community without making my own personal email feed a complete mess. I can see Notes improving my life as both a reader and writer.
I haven't really grokked the Restack capability yet. I need to pay better attention to how and when people are using it. I don't think I've yet seen something Restacked.
It's great for your own work as well. There are recent posts that I plan to spread out and share over the next couple of weeks to entice people to check out my work. And the quote "Restack" feature is genius. I love that I can highlight a quote and it shares the quote that links directly back to the article. Check out that feature as well. I'm just playing at this point :-)
I have been noticing that a lot of people are posting hashtags with their notes. It appears that these are not actually a feature of Notes. Anyone have any insight?
I've been posting to Notes the same way I do on Twitter (and LinkedIn and Reddit and Hacker News, etc.), just to see what happens. Like an experiment. Noticed the hashtags aren't operable. I've found them useful in the past...
I think that they are very useful and I would like to see Substack incorporate. I am a photographer, but i shoot Large Format film mostly. Being able to use hashtags enables people like me to find others who operate in our creative space much more easily and effectively.
I like how people use them on Instagram, clustered at the bottom of posts. They are a system feature that enhances discovery but not really meant to be read, and should not interfere with messaging. I agree, they can be unsightly.
So many ‘smaller’ writers here are asking about how to get visibility on notes, it’s quite simple really, reply and respond in thoughtful ways to the notes that interest you, and you will be seen.
Thanks for Notes! Small is beautiful! I'd love to see more discoverability for smaller stable publications driven by new super-innovative Substack algorithms.
Hey all — This doesn't answer all the questions I'm seeing here (not even close!), but this morning I listened to the founders discuss Notes (and Twitter's response) on the podcast "On with Kara Swisher" and highly recommend. Here's a link: https://pod.link/1643307527/episode/123c7903f9603cff877c706585b6fc7b
Q1: Will there be a separate app for Notes? How do you plan to grow the platform or it’s feature while it’s a nested feature in a app? If it is staying put does that mean there won’t be any big feature updates like audio rooms or something that would require more screen real estate?
Q2: Did the rollout go according to plan mostly? How was it behind the scenes? Were there any moments that you knew it was going to be ok or it had worked, or the other way around?
Q3: Was there any analytical or data anomalies that stood out? Like time of interactions, avg length of note, etc.
Q4: Are you doing this all in house or do you contract the work? What about for help desk?
Q5: ETA on swapping out the subscribe button for a follow notes button and put the subscribe in ellipsis or even make it a setting so the user can choose which button is displayed?
Love notes but wish/hope/pray the Substack folks will figure out how to group things by subject categories. Too many notes for me to read. Making it possible for people to identify notes topics of interest would boost engagement.
Question 1: Is their going to be a way to insert a link using the Mardown method or a button in the iOS app? Having Bold and Italics has been awesome since I use markdown for all my note taking and writing.
Question 2: Without algorithmic choices is there going to be any way, other than 2 degrees of relationship, for smaller creators to be discovered by others? I know our Timeline isn’t meant to become a bunch of people you do not care about. At the same time we do not want it to be like shouting into the Blue Void either. We don’t want to be drowned out by the big creators. I think their is a solution here that is more nuanced than a comment can give Justice to. Wonder your take.
One thing I like a lot about Notes is how your notes get seen by the subscribers of other substacks that recommend you. Presumably, those would be the readers with overlapping interests, so the odds of them subscribing to you are probably higher than for random others.
I'm a little concerned that this might encourage some people to subscribe to as many newsletters as possible, in the hopes of getting more coverage. Just yesterday someone subscribed to my newsletter and I noticed that they are subscribed to 230 newsletters. Yikes.
Yes, I saw the same - some super-subscribers here that must have an agenda since they are never going to read any. Makes me cynical that everyone's just out to get more subs; we're all playing a game!
Not sure if someone mentioned this or not, but it would be nice to know how well a Note is doing in terms of engagement? Maybe it's too early for that but just a thought.
I think Notes could be improved with a mechanism that discourages endless scrolling.
Sure, scrolling is how folks discover more notes to read, but we also know that endless scrolling isn't good for anyone.
This seems like a classic opportunity for a creative constraint. The question would be how to disincentivize scrolling in a way that adds instead of subtracts value.
I wonder if the Substack team considered non-endless scrolling in designing Notes…?
Last week I fixed a bug where sometimes you would reach the bottom of the feed and it wouldn't load more. This makes me think I should have considered it a feature. :D
well, yes... you should! it could be an optional feature with an on-off toggle in settings ... or it could just get slower and slower, more frictionful... or take you somewhere else... or be limited based on how much you write, or who knows, but as I said above, we all know that endless scrolling isn't good for anyone.
Hi there! I've noticed that some people have their substacks listed right under their names when they post to notes. Is that something I can do in my profile settings, or is this something you "earn" by number of subscribers, or...? would like it to be clear that I not only subscribe to various newsletters, but that i also write one!
Hi Maya, that should happen automatically if you have a primary publication (and it looks like you do), but when you're browsing Notes, you won't actually see your own publication linked below your name. You'll only see other user's publications.
I’m sure with a community of right-minded and right-thinking people we will make Substack and its new features like notes very useful and interesting. Frankly, I’m still feeling a little lost and swallowed but love it when any of you reach out!
I really like Notes! The challenge is I'm a small, niche account. I write about slavery in Massachusetts and New England, so my audience is specific and it's difficult for me to build engagement on any social media platform. I need strategies to build engagement on Substack Notes beyond spamming my links to the "Home" timeline. Does Substack have any plans to perhaps boost "little guy" accounts through Notes? Or is my ultra-nice Substack relegated to obscurity? 😂
I had hoped Notes would be a direct-to-subscriber email tool, as a way of showing appreciation to the 6 per cent of my readers who are paid subscribers. I don't want to paywall, or hide archives, or write lengthy special content for $$ subscribers. I think there's some utopian thinking behind making Substack more of a "community," but there's definitely a wall between boomers like me who tend to find Notes to be just more clutter to navigate away from, and those younger digital natives who like all these shiny new things, and may even know how to make better use of them.
I'm trying to decide if my subscribers really WANT more interaction, and at the same time, whether I have capacity to manage more of it. I've been a little too busy to digest the Notes info that's come to us so far, so forgive me if the answer to this is buried somewhere or, worse, really obvious. :D Here are my questions. Insights on any or all would be much appreciated.
>>> It appears when we launch Notes, that all subscribers get an email notification. Does that mean they also get notifications when there are new comments?
>>> How does discoverability actually happen, or improve?
>>> I noticed that a larger account to which I subscribe had hundreds of comments. So, people are talking amongst themselves and the author/OP is left to decide where or how to engage. What an investment!
Hey Elizabeth, you may want to let your subscribers know about Notes because it may introduce them to other authors or content that they would enjoy. I mention that because I’m sure some of your members would enjoy spending time there even if you, yourself, aren’t very active in that space.
The Chat feature will only show things you post there to people who are subscribed to you. No one else can see it. Additionally, I believe you can paywall posts in Chat. Notes will show you posts written by anyone to whom you are subscribed and it will show you if those authors (the ones you’ve subscribed to) reply to someone else (even if you are not following that person). This creates opportunities for new people to discover the Notes you post and ultimately your newsletter.
I joined the conversation late today, and someone may have already asked this question, but how exactly does Notes help promote your Substack? I feel a bit overwhelmed--getting on Substack was a huge step, and now Notes compared to Twitter, etc. Is Notes best used to promote your own content in short form format? I have seen folks recommend books, websites, just say hello on Notes, and it was not that intuitive to me. And yes, I am not a full fledged social media person--do FB but not one of those who cross promotes diligently on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube etc. Many thanks! Anu http://anuprabhala.substack.com
you can turn off all note notifications from your account settings (on desktop), that helps to keep your phone free from the tidal wave of notifications
Hey writers! We're excited to see so many of you in Notes. Over the next few months we will continue to iterate and grow the product together.
The Substack team is signing off today but we will be back next week at the same time. In the meantime, we encourage writers to stick around after the hour and continue the conversation together.
See you in Notes!
PLEASE ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING TWO QUESTIONS:
FIRST ISSUE:
The substack instructional materials said that immediately after I posted by first note, I would receoive a "template" which would enable me to notify all of my subscribers that I had published a note.
After I published my first note, Something flashed on my screen, momentarilty, and Then vanished.
The bottom line: I want the template, subtsack had promulaged, which notifies your subscribers that you have publshjed a note
I wrote abou this. Quite predictably, no one got back to me.
SECPOND ISSUE:
In the past, I had participated in substack office hours. I subscribed and then, at the time office hours was due to commence, I went to my GOOGLE CALENDAR AND CLICKED On the link, to office hourse, which appeared on my calendar. NOW THESE LNKS NO LONGER APPEAR ON MY CALENDAR.
Office hours is scheduled to commence in LESS THAN ONE HOUR. Howevef, there is no link, in my calendar, re office hours. I am subscribed to office hours, but I need help with the logistics of actually connecting to office hours. Without the link on my calendar, I don't know how to actually access office hours
I'd say there are several issues with Notes thus far:
1. It's hard to keep track of your own notes, as there isn't a menu for them. I find it cumbersome to constantly click on my profile, where the Notes are interspersed with my stories.
2. I think there should be more separation btw Notes and other parts of the interface. For instance, I want to be able to follow writers' notes without subscribing and not receiving notifications every time a note is posted. There are way too many notifications now to keep track of.
3. I'm confused - do 'likes' and 'comments' in Notes count towards the posts when they are linked in notes? Like, if I get a comment in Notes, is it duplicated in the post comments and vice versa? Because that's the impression I'm getting due to the aforementioned lack of separation.
4. I feel that Notes seem to be most beneficial to writers with already established/large subscriber bases. More needs to be done to even out the algorithmic playing field for smaller-tier writers.
#4 is a symptom of a larger Substack discoverability challenge for small authors. Searching inside of their "Explore" page tends to only surface posts from the biggest authors, even if smaller authors are writing more relevant posts.
I totally agree with #4. Substack has a tendency to help authors who do not need the help, because their subscriber base is already large. It would be great to have a more equalized approach, such as Twitter/Instagram's hashtag system, or even a search feature. Tbh, I will more than likely ignore this feature unless it's fixed.
Ditto - me too. I asked this question awhile back on how to connect with communities we are connected with as hashtags aren’t available so are we all supposed to have hours everyday to read through notes to find one out of a hundred (if we’re lucky) that we feel like we connect with? I don’t have the time or patience.
I feel the same way - I'm too busy writing to try read notes or scroll through a million notifications to find something that might be relevant/useful/important.
I am glad I’m not alone. I’m not understanding how this will be helpful unless you already have a significant amount of subscribers and they see your notes. As bad as I would love to make new connections, not knowing if someone is interested in hearing about my message or cause will take even more time. It seems like it would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Hopefully they come up with a way to connect like hashtags.
I totally agree. And I think it's going to make the people with huge follower numbers get more subscribers. I don't see how it'll help emerging writers.
Very with you on point 4!
I agree with 4! I want to find more writers and those that align with my interests not just the most popular.
Agreed : can’t find my own notes in the thread ... and returning to the email even after having the app is very confusing !!
i agree
yes, my notes languish quietly and I fear they won't be discovered. the old question - how to connect?
https://creatorexperiments.substack.com/
It would be logical that Substack would add a Notes area to the navigation on your home screes as they did for Chat. This would be a nice addition as it would provide a single space for a person's notes to be found.
definitely
Point 2 is important. Right now people who are used to the follow concept of other social networks can follow writers on Notes without understanding that doing so exposes their email address to the writer via the newsletter subscriber interface. That's a privacy issue.
@mikhail, I’m not sure I agree with you regarding point number 4. I mean, yes, people with large publications have more visibility, but that’s simply because they have more subscribers. It’s not because of an algorithm. As I understand it, Notes shows posts you make to the people who have subscribed to your publication or followed your Notes. For example, I happen to follow your Notes because of my interactions with you over there. You continue to introduce me to new people every time you reply to one of their posts because that reply puts their post in my newsfeed. That’s how the ‘algorithm’ works… or at least, that’s how I understand it to work.
You (and me for that matter) are able to interact with authors who have larger subscription bases than us. When we do their followers will see our replies. If those authors reply to us, then they show up in the feeds of people who follow us. This approach to claiming visibility is more manual than the system simply giving it to you, but it does provide you with much more agency and power than a gift from the system ever would. Additionally, it allows you the opportunity to present yourself exactly how you want.
I understand how it works. And I'm not asking the system to 'give it to me.' I just want the chance to be able to better discover/be discovered by other users of the platform. When a handful of authors are able to get an additional thousand subscribers in 24 hours via Notes by virtue of having already had thousands of subscribers before that, I'd say that the promise of Notes to help improve discovery overall isn't quite working.
It was nigh impossible to get discovered before Substack thankfully updated its search engine, which would keep small or un-monetized pubs without a built-in audience almost invisible, and introduced the recommendation feature.
Sorry. I was addressing you because I was replying to your comment directly, but some of the things I was saying were based off of comments made by other people. This was my mistake and I apologize for not having been more clear. Seriously. I am sorry about that.
You raise good points about how Substack changed the algorithm in the past to improve discoverability. I’m not opposed to that, but I wanted to make sure everyone did understand the actions that they can take right now (again, not for you specifically on that part).
Jim Legum who posted the screenshot saying he’d gained 3500 subscribers said later on that part of that was because he did have a couple of high profile posts that were kind of going viral at the same time. So, he’s not really certain how many subscribers came exclusively from Notes versus the posts. That being said, several other authors have reported similar experiences so you may be on to something.
I know I’ve increased my subscriber count by about 17%. That may sound impressive, but there’s a reason I gave you a percentage instead of hard numbers. That reason is that the numbers aren’t impressive, but the growth rate is enough to get me excited and I do attribute that growth to Notes..
It will be interesting to see what types of solutions they come up with to address the problem.
9.6% increase in the last 24 hours, which, considering it was a SUPER busy day and I didn't have as much time to play with it as I would on a weekend, isn't too shabby. And I found some newsletters that I'm genuinely interested in. We're number obsessed. Percentage is a far better gauge AND it's important to see what happens with those numbers. Will open rate stay the same or go down? I want more subscribers, but I also want them to be engaged, feel compelled to share my work with others, and come back for more.
“What will happen with those numbers?” That’s a question I have too. Part of me thinks that at least some of the people who may have subscribed to me may have thought they were subscribing to my notes instead of my newsletter. Only time will tell.
But I can also see that if you are playing the long game and understanding that for most people, this is a long game, it could make a significant difference over time. And I have found newsletters I didn't know existed and I'm excited about them. I would tell everyone that yes, there is always room for improvement, but I am more optimistic than I've been in a long time about both writing and my social media engagement. I'm hoping to develop better habits and grow as a writer, reader, and thinker. As long as Substack continues to be focused on that mission as well, I say it's progress.
No, problem, John. I took no offense. And I'm not saying I haven't seen any sub growth at all. I have. But I'm also not sure how much of that is actually attributable to Notes. So, it might be a little early to gauge just what sort of effect Notes has on discoverability. In any case, I just want it to improve as a whole.
Great points, especially #1 and #4. I would say that Substack would benefit, in the long run, from a sort of 'progressive subsidy' in the discovery algorithm that helps to surface authors with fewer readers.
I also think Notes could be improved with a mechanism that discourages endless scrolling.
Sure, scrolling is how folks discover more notes to read, but we also know that endless scrolling isn't good for anyone.
This seems like a classic opportunity for a creative constraint. The question would be how to disincentivize scrolling in a way that adds instead of subtracts value. It could just slow down, and then stop. This ‘friction’ could be an optional feature that could be turned off. Maybe it could go sort of ‘sideways’ into deeper content instead of endlessly further into scrollworld. I don’t even know that that might mean, but I like how it sounds.
I wonder if the Substack team considered non-endless scrolling in designing Notes…?
I’d love to hear what you all think about this.
re 4: naturally, the big hitters will drown out the small fish (my substack is 4 weeks old today!). same as everywhere else. I expected nothing less. Maybe it will level itself out over time, but probably not. Hardly any bestsellers on this thread, are there? Only one thing you can do, continue to write, write, write! Good luck all.
And what do you like about Notes?
I like being able to post my thoughts and microblog. I enjoy the fact that I can quote, bold, italicize, etc. I like having an alternative to Twitter.
Right, especially, as far as I can see so far, points 2 and 4. Thanks
#2.
Well done on Notes! Do the team have plans to boost notes or promote less known Stackers via the new feature? Noticing a lot of the big writers are very visible, makes complete sense - all in all Notes is fab!
Totally agree with you David! I'd love to see written work from lesser known writers too.
Hi!
4 weeks old Substacker, lesser known! 😎
I agree, I'd like to see a way in which writers with small audiences could use notes to share their content.
yes, that is a must
As someone just starting recently on Substack, how do I get any visibility to my Notes?
I post, but nobody sees them. In my home feed I have large accounts I have not subscribed.
It seems if you have a large account, you get boosted, but if you have a small account how do you reach your target audience?
There seems no method for searching notes or tagging. So I can't find others having conversations on topics that I write about and they can't find me either.
We are working on better search / discovery features for Notes.
Will there be a Notes "button" or navigation bar link that we can add?
Agree, sometimes I feel as I'm wearing an invisibility cloak and I don't know it... Ask questions or make comments that never get answered cuz i'm too small...sigh ;)
I’ve been thinking about this recently and part of me just wants to be true to my writing and those loyal people that have subscribed because they like my writing and if that means small then so be it because I don’t want to be a marketer or a salesperson, I just want to write. And you are not invisible. You are adding your work to the world. Good luck!
I agree!
Thank you, you too! Stay true!
Snap. Same here
Totally agree with Dakara! I'd love to hear a bit of advice on this too. As a very smaller writer, I'd love to reach a bigger audience with Notea as it's a great form of short writing and conversation.
Definitely agree with that, good point
Apparently we can tag on the desktop but not yet in the app
We can? Where are the tags located on desktop?
I would guess that somewhere on their agenda, as Notes grows, will be the ability to categorize Notes postings. Say for example if you were and artist or a writer of a particular genre, your notes could be in a general feed but also found under the genre you added to the note. (think hashtags, since the Dirty Bird doesn't own rights to using hashtags.)
I'd to post a challenge to the Substack algorithm team: rather than only boosting the writers with massive subscription bases, can you help boost the ones just starting out or with lower subscription numbers, as well? Otherwise we're always fighting an uphill battle no matter how good or insightful our content is. Perhaps the algorithm could base it on the type of content, or even a lottery system where random accounts get a little boost from time to time.
Would love others' thoughts on how to help the algorithm be a little more democratic!
I agree. I have often felt (reluctantly) that in some ways Substack epitomises the Matthew effect
There’s a reason it’s a Principle
I agree wholeheartedly. I'm excited about Notes, but the main feed is already appearing to be dominated by famous people with big followings on this or other platforms. I'm confused as to how that's happened when in theory there are a zillion new people posting notes - it does make it look like it's favoring of larger/famous accounts. That said, it's a great new platform with a lot of promise. We have gotten a bit of extra visibility so far this week and that's very nice to see. Hopefully we're able to grow and build with this new capability. - Vanessa
Agree. Starting out is hardwork, not that it should easy. However I guess there will be a tipping point when excitement and enthusiasm wanes if growth is slow, virtually static or rigor mortis has set in.
Yes I agree - I've been invited to sub to people I don't want to sub to who I've seen a tonne of times.
agree 100%
I've called this a 'progressive subsidy' in the discovery algorithm -- or, I suppose, a progressive tax on more successful authors...
I strongly dislike the Bestsellers thread. Subscribed makes sense -- though it feels a little redundant -- and Home has been, thus far, very interesting (the most interesting part of Notes for me, right now), but Bestsellers is just a pure firehose that rewards the writers who need the exposure the least. I'd love to see that thread disappear.
I'd also love to see a thread that boosts writers who have smaller subscriber numbers -- a reverse of the badge system, basically. I realize Substack as a company makes less money from those writers and it doesn't behoove you to promote them in anywhere near the same capacity as the "bestsellers," but it would go such a long way -- I believe an astonishingly long way -- toward building goodwill in the community.
I totally agree about a thread that boosts those with smaller subscriber numbers because that is me (!) or maybe some sort of place we can go and not get lost on here!
This is what I'm hearing the most (and the most loudly) behind the scenes. Big feelings, including genuine anger, over Substack seeming to forget the folks with smaller subscriber numbers, once again.
I would share that sentiment
Plus, Substack reshares should include not as popular writers as well.
I disagree, a little. I think instead of getting rid of it (I actually like it) I think there should be even more options, ones that are user-defined. So I could create a tab for science writers, for comedians, for recipes, and so on. I prefer to have more control over my feed rather than less.
I like the idea of promoting people who have fewer subscribers, though I'm not sure how that could be done, given how many there are. But it's a good idea if the folks at Substack can come up with some way to do it!
Incidentally, Substack has ways of helping smaller newsletters get more attention; you can contact bigger ones and ask about cross-promotion, for example, or use the Recommendations feature. I'm not saying that's a substitute or it's perfect or anything like that! But getting noticed is always an issue when you're starting out, and even people with bigger audiences (cough) struggle with it. It took me a long, long time to build up my audience. I've been writing on the web since 1993 and I still deal with it!
I know! I started four weeks ago. I am not complaining though. The community here is much better than any other platform I have been on prior. But I agree, big badge people helping out no badge people can help. Still, need to write content people want to read as well. 1993 is a long time. I remember using ytalk for the first time in the university computer pool (before irc).
I remember when buying the badastronomy URL was a HUGE deal... :)
I remember paying 400 bucks for a single speed CD ROM drive with caddy... 😝
I get what you're saying, but smaller writers relying on bigger names means relying on the goodwill of those writers. Some will share, but some won't because of a perceived competition. (Which is silly, but that doesn't make it less true.) Substack could have a more neutral stance, either finding ways to promote everyone through more in depth tabs, like you suggested, or just promoting no one.
Well, sure, unless someone starts big then you're always in some sense relying on people with wider clout to help. Heaven knows I did back in the day and still do! My point is that option is at least there, and it's always worth a shot.
I don't think it's in SS's (or anyone's) interest to promote no one, though I see your point. I don't think having the tab hurts, but I agree that it would be *better* to have a way to add one for lesser-known newsletters as well. I don't know how to do that equitably, but the coders behind SS are better at this than I am. :)
Good point, Phil -- I was thinking of the threads that Substack builds in natively (and you may be right that eliminating Bestsellers isn't the right choice, but I do think expanding the options would benefit more people). It would be awesome if each user could then customize threads based on categories of their own devising -- maybe topically, maybe something I can't even think of right now.
100% agree with this. Helping out the smaller names will only foster a stronger sense of community.
On the bright side, I do think short-form content allows writers to cover more topics than they would in their newsletter. I'll probably post random thoughts about music or food in addition to hockey content (my niche).
I totally agree with this! I think promoting smaller writers was one of the great things Substack did in the beginning and I'd love to see that again.
Bestsellers are already bestsellers--they don't need yet more free promotion. Maybe if Substack promotes smaller publications, they'll be come bestsellers, and then they still make money. If nothing else, I'd love to see the bestsellers thread disappear.
and not only that, but widen the basis for Substack's income in the longer term
Guess they are following the NYT playbook. Helpful if they dedicate resources in parallel to those of us not in the 'bestseller' category (yet)...
I've already gotten a few subscribers after posting my first notes. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.
I found an artist while using Notes. If you haven't already 'met' him, you might enjoy The SneakyArt Post https://sneakyart.substack.com. Mechanical engineer, turned artist!
The funny thing is that I think that within each engineer is a deep well of creative energy.
Yes, I think you're right!
Thank you for sharing!
I have too.
I got 10 and lost 6 the next day !
Oh no! It's still a +4 gain. ;-)
I think maybe people might think that "subscribe" means "follow notes" instead of subscribe to the person's substack? Also I'm interested in if open rates from these new Notes-based subscribers will be as high as from the traditional way.
Oh! I hadn't thought of that. Hmm, I guess we will find out.
Yes it just kinda felt odd as this doesn’t normally happen - maybe folks made snap decisions? I got an email from someone saying they never signed up and could I unsubscribe them so that was weird!
Congratulations, Beverly, on the new subs.
If I can be forward enough to offer advice to people just starting off on Notes, I’d like to make a suggestion. The content you see in your feed is restricted to the people to whom you have subscribed and the people with whom those authors (the ones you’ve subscribed to) interact. So, if they reply to someone it’ll show up your newsfeed. Several people have mentioned that they are seeing posts from large publishers that they don’t follow and they believe this is because Substack is promoting their content. I believe it’s because someone you DO FOLLOW has replied to one o their posts.
My recommendation for people who are concerned about a lack of visibility is that they use the desktop version of Notes and start following the Notes of people who have made a comment or post that has interested them. The more frequently you follow the Notes of other people, the more content will appear in your newsfeed, and it becomes more likely that something will elicit a comment from you. When you interact with someone else’s post it gives you more visibility and new people will discover you, your Notes, and ultimately your newsletter.
You can only follow the Notes of other people through the Desktop version. Find the heart icon on the far left side of the screen at the bottom of someone’s post or comment and look to the opposing side. When you see the three dots, click there, and then choose See More from Username. That will allow you to follow their Notes, but does not subscribe you to their newsletter. You might want to do that as well once you get to know them, but I like starting with their Notes first.
Thanks for sharing this - so you can subscribe to Notes first just need to be on the web vs. app to do so. Interesting.
Yes. That’s correct.
Thank you for making this distinction John as we all wade through this process
ah.. so if someone I am subscribed to comments on someone else's note, I will see their notes? that makes a lot of sense actually. The best way to get new people to read your notes would then be to have other people comment on them, but then they need to see it first. Sounds like having other writers (with subscribers) as your subscribers and therefore as potential commenters on your posts would be the best thing for getting more people to see your notes.
@robert, as I understand it that is correct. I meant to mention above that I’m totally guessing about how these things work. I don’t work at Substack and no one there has confirmed my theories, but based off of what I have observed that’s correct.
That’s why I think it’s so important that people follow the Notes of other authors or readers (whoever) who interest them. It makes the platform stickier and the more you interact with other people there the more visible you become.
I'm enjoying Notes so far! I've added some new subs, I've found some cool new Substacks, and the conversations in my comments section seem to be more lively. One suggestion, though. It would be nice if Notes was integrated into the data dashboard. I'd like to see how many times a story is "restacked." I assume that data is currently included in shares, but it would be nice to break it out. Also, it would be cool to see Notes as the subscription source when you're looking at attribution. That would help a lot because it would give me an idea of how much time I want to invest in Notes. Thanks, Substack team!
We'll be adding a lot more Notes-specific data to the publication dashboards in the near future. All of these are great ideas!
Awesome. Love me some analytics! 📊📉📈
Thanks Kyle!
In a reply below I mention the idea of user-defined tabs (besides the default Home, Subscribed, and Bestseller tabs), using keywords from the newsletters. I'd love to have tabs for science writers, entertainment critics, recipes, and so forth. Here's the reply: https://on.substack.com/p/office-hours-notes-74/comment/14637136 Thanks!
Everyone click like on this comment so we can get Substack to do this. I love this idea.
😃
I really like notes but hope that most writers use it for more than crosspromoting their own posts and fishing for followers.
Yes, I agree. I write about the scientific research into kindness and send out my newsletter once/week. There are other things I'd like to share with my subscribers, on more of a daily basis, so I'm looking at Notes as a way to do that. I'm just not quite sure yet how to get my subscribers to come to Notes to see what's going on and to participate. I need to better understand the subscriber interface.
Actually, in terms of kindness to myself and perhaps to my readers, I get burned out just writing long-form pieces, which sometimes end up looking too academic. The new Notes might bring kindness and relief for me and my audience, as well as fresh, in the moments, inspiration.
I know what you mean. Sometimes I get too academic with my kindness research. Then when I look back at what I wrote, I realize that I would never talk with people that way. So I try to read each post out loud, like a podcast, and that helps me put my thoughts into something that a human would have written!
PS: Kindness to yourself.....definitely super important! 💜
This is a good one. I see that you can view your notes from your profile on mobile. Maybe send a note to subscribers from here.
Thanks, didn't see that-- I've only played with Notes on desktop so far.
Okay just found it on desktop. If you go to your profile and scroll down to latest. It shows your notes.
Kindness always gets my vote. Just subscribed! :)
Awww, that's really nice of you @Kerri Aab. Checking out Three Small Smiles. I like the name already!
I'm currently using the space to write about an impossible project I've been working on since January. But that's coming to an end and the smiles will return soon! :)
I just subscribed to Three Small Smiles. I love your concept. Your Broadway project sounds like it was exhilarating, exhausting, and eye-opening. I'm happy for you that you have found peace with the conclusion. (I did snoop around a bit lol)
I also dug into your archives to find Three Small Smiles. What a wonderful idea....and I can totally relate to feeling, some weeks, like it's hard to smile. We are human. Did you know that we are all born with a negativity bias? (I digress because I wrote about little human problem!).
I'm excited to follow along with your Three Small Smiles journey. I'm sure I'll learn from you. 💜
Same for me, Heather. My readers are fine with email and so haven't been interested in Chat or Notes. But maybe if Notes gets more popular and supplants Twitter, things will shift.
I was thinking the same thing as a use for Notes, and share your questions about the interface for readers.
Agreed. I hold my nose and do self-promotion on the other annoying socials (fb, twitter, etc) but the beauty of Substack is that anything I post (like this comment) is already linked up to my profile with the things I've written. So I'd rather use my wordiness to talk about, oh, the book I'm reading or some crazy thing I saw.
Yes, I'm looking for creative ways to use the platform - like micro stories on the regular, or interesting little observations. Polls? Something that adds value. Ideas welcome!
I do like the idea of sharing other Substack writers posts here. Just kind of extending a conversation. “Hey, look at this cool thing.” More reader- than writer-focused.
Yeah, I think the beauty of notes is that you can flesh yourself out as a human being. Make friends, be part of a community. I'm on Notes because I like to hang out. I get enough of everything else, everywhere else.
Agreed. I’ve posted two notes so far to share a recommendation or link & start a conversation about something that is not about my newsletter. But the feed is full of “check out my newsletter” introduction posts, not unlike the Shoutout thread. It’s tiresome and overwhelming.
I think overwhelm is the word of the week for notes
So far, I’ve had genuine-feeling conversations on about half the things I’ve shared, particularly with the authors of posts I restacked. I agree it seems redundant for writers to share their own posts in Notes!
I was part of the Beta program. Notes is beyond awesome. Getting visibility happens when you post on there and connect with other writers. It's less about spotlighting and more about connection and community. It's about subscribing to the newsletters you like and restacking quotes from them to share with others. That said, it's also about sharing the amazing work you're doing. I discovered so many great Substacks and hope that continues! I'm happy to field any questions though I'm hardly an expert on the backend.
How many hours do you spend on Substack? Or notes? I’m interested to know what would be the norm to help build an engaged audience 🙏
I’m still figuring that out. I think the main thing is to be authentic and true to yourself. Your subscribers will be drawn to that. I’m not a social media person, so I’m not going to post ten times a day. That’s just me.
That seems like a good plan 👌
Great comments Sarah, I may take you up on the offer 😊
While I wasn't on the Beta team, I second this, as that is what I'm seeing, at least in the last 48 hours
Hi there!
Nice info Sarah!
As a new Substack writer, and someone who never played with Twitter much - how can I Add the most value for other Notes users and for myself? Should I focus on getting subscribers to my Substak so they can see my notes, or are there easier ways to gain visibility? I'm interested in helping others, sharing ideas, and collaboration.
Hi Paul. Great name by the way. You can add value by choosing a great niche, finding your tribe, and writing to help your cohorts. Unfortunately this takes time. So if you play the long game, answer questions in forums like this one, contact others that write in your niche, cross post, ask to do interviews, ask questions, take advice, be consistent and follow people who write answers to questions you have - your subscriber list will grow. Just not by tomorrow. It starts slowly, then all at once. Read "So You Just Started a Substack" (https://pau1.substack.com/p/start) Good luck
I’m thinking I may have failed at the first hurdle as I don’t have a niche. I just write about life! But you’ve made me think that this is a bit like a business I tried to start. It didn’t work either due to lack of niche! I guess maybe good writing just isn’t enough...
Just. Keep. Writing. It's the same in the music world - "maybe good music just isn't enough." It's absolutely true! Especially because there are writers / bands / etc. out there with half the talent but they PROMOTE and hustle and do the song and dance...
It's okay to not do all that. Just keep writing. Show up for your audience, your fans. They love what you do.
Yes a lot of it is to do with constant marketing and when you just want to write, that all seems like an awful hassle!
Hi Deborah! "There is no fail-only do" ~ Yoda Davinci
It's easier to align with a group (niche) than with everybody. But there are some very popular general interest newsletters here. So there is no right or wrong way to do things. And all I know is what I've done. Jeff Bezos started with a niche (books) and then branched out. Now he sells everything, and it works for Amazon. You can always start in a niche, then iterate, change, pivot whatever you want. You're the boss. Try different things. "Days Like This" is a cool name. It draws me in and I wonder, days like what? Good luck on your journey!
I agree with the value of developing your niche. My whole professional career has been in a niche. As I began my Substack, I realized that even my niche was much too broad, and I needed to focus more on where my writing will have readers and benefit others rather than just doing it for my artistic development. The new Notes, I hope, will be of great value to me, as I tend to take too long to write pieces I feel will be of interest, whereas with notes, I can put out my thoughts and inspiration in smaller bits as they come up. It will also help me better identify and communicate with my audience.
Awk thank you for this, this is very encouraging! Someone with lots of subscribers on here told me my niche could be where I come from - Belfast - but I wasn't sure about that at all as I try not to write about that! Hence Days Like This which is a Van Morrison song sung at one of our very many peace events in Northern Ireland! P.S. I do agree niche is best if you have one. I still remember the example of a successful Substack that had started from nothing that was shared with me as a good example of how to make it on here. It was about wildfire firefighting and I thought well that's a niche I'll never have!
I guess Brexit really blocked up Northern Ireland. Would Scottish independence help or hinder Ireland?? Excuse my ignorance, we don't get near enough news from Ireland or Scotland Deborah
Gosh now there's a question. I don't know if Scottish independence would help as I'm not knowledgable enough. Basically trade between Northern Ireland (UK) and Republic of Ireland (not UK) was simple before Brexit because both were in the EU. Once Northern Ireland left the EU (along with rest of UK) there were lots of rules about trade and checks at the border into Republic of Ireland and new trade deals have had to be made. Hopefully things are getting sorted out but it's taken time. It's complicated for us because we're on an island - there's a sea between us and the rest of the UK and not between us and the Republic of Ireland. Thanks for asking.
Love Van Morrison and Days Like This...just didn't connect the dots. Don't worry too much about all the things. Just try to have fun writing!
It does overwhelming. I love writing here each week, know who I want to connect with but it’s become really crowded. I’m getting lost in different conversations/threads.
I know I'm seeing notifications about replies but struggling to find where the replies are!
Haha. Yes, I struggled to find your reply to me. And I expect you may never see this or the other reply I just wrote. It’s weird how Substack can’t make those notifications link directly to the reply they’re notifying you about.
I’m sure you haven’t failed, Deborah. As for niches... An interesting thing is that I’m feeling like being a niche writer, or perceived as such, holds back uptake of my newsletter and my notes. I write about work, workplaces, and worker wellbeing, and I’m not sure there are many members of that niche on Substack yet. Depending on the scope of one’s niche, there really needs to be tremendous critical mass to achieve success.
So maybe the grass is always greener... niche-wise?
That's very interesting as I would have thought that having a niche would make it easier to attract people to your newsletter and what you write about seems very topical. I think the advice re niche holds up in some ways but I also think Substack is currently going really well for more well-known writers, journalists, editors, those who already have large numbers of Instagram followers and it is about people subscribing to them rather than what they specifically write about. There's a thing about your voice, personality, reputation too and people being attracted to that regardless of what you write about....
Bob, as a matter of interest, do you share links to your Substack on LinkedIn? Your Substack looks very well set up. I find with LinkedIn, that people will click and read my writing on Substack but not necessarily subscribe.
Thanks, Deborah. Yes, I do share on LinkedIn. I have a substantial presence there and, of course, it seems like the perfect place for my niche. It’s the primary source for my (admittedly small) subscriber base. But, to your point, considering my presence there and the extent to which I work that angle, it’s almost amazing how few of my LinkedIn followers do subscribe.
By the way, based on my LinkedIn stats, I do have reason to wonder whether the LinkedIn algorithm, which is smarter than people give it credit for, suppresses posts that include links to Substack.
That said, LinkedIn has changed a lot over the last couple of years. People there are now much more driven to scroll and click rather than consume content.
Bob, you'll be pleased I found this reply! And that makes sense that you have a substantial presence on LinkedIn. I 100% agree with everything you say here, particularly re the LinkedIn algorithm. I don't get the traction I used to get there either (although I was never substantial!). Also to your other point, I am not sure how you appeal to those who are inclined to scroll, who want easy satisfaction and aren't interested in even clicking and reading never mind going to any depth of thought or engagement. I am far more likely to get likes for a photo of my dog than my writing!
Good writing will never be enough. This platform’s best content remains undiscovered. Substack’s features work well for those with huge followings...like notes, I reckon.
Yes totally agree and that's quite sad when good writing is what I want to find!
That’s because Substack still doesn’t have a search or discovery function. There are no keywords or hashtag feature. Substack also doesn’t feature “undiscovered” or “low” subscriber newsletters. You’ll only see success stories. Take for instance the useless reply in this thread by Substack. He didn’t actually say anything useful to you, other than “copy & paste” positive reply.
Yes agree re the search and discovery or some sort of tagging as to what specific posts are about - maybe I am missing this but when I publish on Medium (which I still do as well) I can tag each piece with at least 5 tags as to what it's about.
Perfect - reading and responding to comments and offering support and advice is my happy place - so that will be easy :) And I have the patience! (Love your Substack too, BTW).
Thanks for the sub! I've subscribed to your as well. The beauty of notes is that anyone in the Substack ecosystem can see them - if they are signed up. Millions of eyeballs. As your Substack Newsletter grows, I think the algorithm will start to work in your favor.😀
Hey Paul, I think just interacting with other writers, posting things that interest you, and being a good member of the community is the best way to add value. I do hope that you will share links to your articles from time to time because I follow people’s Notes first and then once I get a read on whether I enjoy their content or not I’ll consider their newsletter. So, those weekly or semi-regular links to your latest posts help convert people like me who might be lurking in the background and reading notes first. Does that make sense?
This is the way.
This is a solid answer. Thanks for sharing.
Love love LOVE this advice. No one owes anyone an audience, or a subscription! Absolutely a long game.. just keep being nice, helpful, write for the subscribers you already have, and enjoy the ride!
I’ve said this somewhere else too on these comments but I wanted to add here that I would love to see more support for new writers to increase invisibility as most of the added features such as notes tend to just enhance the visibility of already established writers with large numbers of subscribers. I can’t imagine ever being restacked but it must be a nice feeling!!
I just restacked you :) But yes, it would be very helpful to have a guide that breaks down the key channels we can use to get visibility and engagement - I am very happy to put the effort in - I'm just not quite sure exactly where that effort should go.
Thank you Paul! Yes agree this type of guide would be really useful. I used to get more traction to my writing via social media and when I used Medium but it’s become harder and harder and I’ve reached the point where I feel like maybe it’s ok to just be appreciated by my small number of subscribers and just write for them rather than try to conquer the world of writing!
Deborah, have you explored the "Thousand True Fans" theory - definitely worth a look. https://blog.lulu.com/1000-true-fan-theory-revisited/
No I haven’t but I will now. Thanks!
I'm so with you on this, Deborah. There's a song lyric that goes, "I'd rather be nine people's favorite thing, than a hundred people's ninth favorite thing" and I've been using that as a guide more and more lately. I feel more fulfilled when I appreciate the couple hundred people who love me rather than get down on myself that the number isn't more significant. It's not always easy, but it's always worth it! Off to check out your 'Stack!
Yes let's hang on to the couple of hundred people who love us! Plus I can't imagine having 20,000 and having to keep feeding them and replying to them all. I like a quieter life!
Paul, I have said before so you may have seen my comment. I think one of the greatest visibility methods is a distinct photo and site name (short,catchy and relatable)We may tend to be 'attached' to our original name and other profile bits. But as I wrote in my recent article,"You don't keep words in the dark" they must be shared and seen...why else would one write online or in any public arena
Absolutely - it's all about separating the signal from the noise - the only problem is, the volume keeps getting turned up!
Yes but as they all publicity is good
I am interested in this too!
I’m planning on using Notes to meet more people and share the occasional photograph or short form content. I think Notes just made everything more vibrant!
Correct me if I'm incorrect, but Notes looks like a separate thread of thoughts and messaging, separate from our main content, that does not get emailed but instead lives exclusively in the sidebar on our dashboard. It feels like yet another thread we have to manage -- in addition to social media for example. Is this accurate? What do you all think, esp. those using Notes and seeing success?
On the one hand I agree, as I find myself spending a lot of time there. On the other, I really like that I can share information on more topics than I would be able to with my long-form content. There are some issues with larger Substacks getting promoted over smaller ones, though, that I would like to see improved.
This is my observation as well. I am enjoying commenting on interesting posts. I have shared a suggestion and asked a question of the developers.
Had some banter back and forth with other writers resulting in my subscribing to them and they me.
We can put photos and clips from recent long posts to entice people to our stacks.
I just began writing mid January and am 2 subscribers shy of 100! With 2 paid subscribers. Consistent posting, sharing my work on other platforms and interacting with writers in similar or complimentary genres has been my approach.
All these really well known writers started somewhere and got their large following through their own blood, sweat, and tears. Some of them may even boost one of is if our stories reach them and are worthy of tagging their names to it.
Scott Britton has a new stack where he shared ideas to grow your stack. Here’s the link.
https://creatorexperiments.substack.com/
Thanks Patricia, will search Scott's link
I agree, but I think it has potential for starting a conversation without feeling the need to write a long post that goes into everyone's inbox
So far I'm loving this new feature and a big thanks to the Substack team for being so great!
What are ya loving about it Kate? I just posted a verse yesterday, so it's wait and see how it works
The lack of vitriol is most important to me, and learning about so many Stacks I would not have known about...and subscribing to them as well. I have gained subscribers, too. On the downside, I see that it is still easy to get sucked in to the immediacy of the Notes platform, but I think that will calm down for me as I find a reasonable rhythm.
Yes Kate, let's see how it goes. All seems pretty positive on your end 😊
One thing I love about Notes is the ability to upload photos to complement stories you've published. As someone who also enjoys taking photos, it's always tough to choose the ones that'll make it into the newsletter. Now, I can share the newsletter as a note with up to six additional photos.
Yes Christian, I love photos too. I have been using Upslash mostly other than my own creations and snaps. I create captions for photos sometimes go down the rabbit hole there 😊 I post photo captions on Instagram @bestdlines I also create what I term 'Picture Stories'
I was a skeptical going in, but so far Notes has proven a great way to connect with other writers, boost their work, and find new Substacks. Great energy in the crowd as well.
Yes, I’ve been enjoying Notes as a way to connect with other Substack writers, too.
Yes Kevin I just jumped on yesterday. Let's see how things go. I will look for yours and all other writers I spot there and of course comment, share and all that there 😊
agree
My experience as well.
I must say, Notes is a BLAST! I feel like the landscape of interesting Substacks has just opened up for me and I can discover new things more easily. I am finding it a bit hard to stay on top of notifications. Can the app ding your phone when someone sends you a note? Also, if someone clicks "See more" from me, but hasn't subscribed to my newsletter, will I be notified that they added me to their see more list? I'd love to know how many people are following me and also get a chance to follow ppl back!
I’ve been wondering whether I want to be able to see what my follow counts are or not. I kind of like just following anyone who intrigues me without worrying about if someone is following me back or if I lost a follower. That’s freeing.
Follower count is not really why I want to know. It's more to know so that I can follow someone back who I might not have thought to. I've had some nice interactions with folks and I try to follow everyone but would hate to miss someone by accident and knowing who has followed me would help with that
Valid points. You’ve convinced me. Now, we shall join forces and simply insist that Substack do things our way.
this is the way
This seems like an interesting way to stay engaged with an audience while working on new material.
I'm also excited about being able to reach and discover more writers and readers!
I'd love for replies to have a default "@username" so you're aware that you're replying to someone specific and not posting your own standalone post in the app.
Yesterday, I ended up accidentally replying to a writer who I've never heard of / am not subscribed to / isn't connected to anyone I know or subscribe to. My post was about my own thoughts on the public vs. subscribed feeds and not wanting the ability to block on public feeds. My post didn't show up in my Notes feed, so I thought it just glitched and didn't post. Turns out, I'd mistakenly posted it as a reply to a specific person who I had never even heard of but who had somehow shown up in my feed. I didn't know that because it didn't @ that person. The result was that person immediately going Twitter-esque on me and putting words into my mouth, and their friend instantly jumping in to attack, too. Good times.
I explained that I hadn't meant to direct it at them personally and ended up just deleting everything, but these are the sort of interactions that make me absolutely despise social media and never want to use it again.
Please make it more apparent when you're replying to someone, as opposed to making your own post, to avoid mistakes and childish outcomes in the future.
Agree with the @ feature and so sorry to hear you had that unpleasant experience here. 🐣 sending you a baby chicken to make you feel better. No malice intended only love
Thank you! That is so sweet!! (And the baby chicken made my afternoon - thank you!!) ☺️
You are most welcome! <3
A fan of notes. I really like the quick thoughts, news, and research that I can share throughout the day. Let's create a thread to connect with those in the same field. I'm in the entertainment space: podcasts, books, TV, magazines, short form content, and more.
Hey I write about podcasts, too — but for the people who work in podcasting, so it's less about entertainment and more behind-the-scenes of the industry. But it's nice to see someone mention another newsletter about podcasts here! And I just hit subscribe!
I love behind the scenes! And I'm a subscriber already. I'm setting time aside so I can catchup on reading. 👏🏾
No way! I love that you're already a subscriber to The Squeeze! How funny. I have a big story coming out next week. It might even be a 2-parter!
Exciting!!
Great idea!
Am I wrong in observing that the cross-posting feature has been replaced by this 'restacking' thing leading to Notes? I haven't tried it yet because I don't want to go down that rabbit hole.
If so, this seems short-sighted, as I have no intention of following links to or from Notes, whereas I will likely read an entire piece that comes to my inbox from a trusted source.
In fact, I have no intention of using Notes at all. I have enough distractions from my writing and reading already, plus a job and a life. I understand that I "should" use it to self-promote like everyone else, but there was a reason I never used Twitter, either, and I fail to see how this is more worthwhile.
It is still possible to cross-post. Open the post online and click the three dots at the top near 'share'. The cross-post feature is in the drop-down box.
Thanks, I see it now. Guess I’m just disappointed that it’s been hidden in favor of the restack feature. Readers like me will never see those posts now, but maybe that’s the point…
Also notes don’t go to email so crosspost is still a feature.
That's a good point also. I wouldn't want to "restack" something unless I was sure others were going to engage with it in Notes.
Probably your thoughts are sound wisdom for me, who also has a very busy life, and little need for more distraction from my writing. Part of my philosophy is that some distraction is good for us and that we sometimes need them to get perspective. I have been on Twitter and have always felt it wastes time. So plan to leave that platform, but I may play some with Notes.
If you go to a post, then up top there are the three dots I still see cross-post listed there. Not sure if it was also at the bottom before.
Ok, thank you! I checked it out and it wasn't available in Firefox but it's working in Safari. Haven't checked any others yet...
I use firefox, and I see it when going to one of your posts.
you have to be logged in though.
Huh, weird. Maybe I'm due for an update or something.
OK, I like Notes. I do agree with a lot of the comments about how it can be expanded and help writers with smaller followings. BUT, I am tremendously impressed by this interface, how fun and easy it is, and I have a hunch the launch was moved up because of "pushback" from a certain other social media owner. And if I'm correct in that assumption, this is even more impressive. I would like to know the difference between chat and notes. And, I want to be able to invite my friends on that "other site" to come to Substack without the pressure of having to write a newsletter. Can we form Notes groups? Can we allow searches for friends? Can we have themed notes? Like "Nevada Education," and all my teacher peeps and better ed advocates can come over? These are just questions. I'm sure you have a long list of things you are planning. Let me reiterate: GREAT JOB.
I understand the appeal of Notes, in that it’s like Twitter but nicer…but I didn’t come to Substack because I was looking for an alternative to Twitter. I came because I like to write (and read) newsletters. I like sending them out to people who have asked for them, and getting just the ones I want in my inbox, as opposed to checking another app. I do like discovering new writers via other writers but to be honest, i don’t subscribe unless I know I’ll read it regularly and I can only read so many, so I actually don’t go looking for new ones.…and I definitely don’t care about popularity in choosing the letters I want to read, and notes seems to boost the big guys…so I guess it’s just not for me! Which is ok, as long as using it doesn’t basically become mandatory, you know?
Substack offers podcasts, and chat, and.. and... and I don't use either of those. I've toyed with Notes a bit, and okay, whatever. Cool! But the focus will absolutely still be on the newsletter!
Loving Notes! Thank you, Substack Team!
Loving the notes feature. I'm spending too much time on commenting on other people's post though ;)
yes - must find time to write also :)
Definitely helping my procrastination...!
I want to learn more about how the substack algorithms determine what can and can't be seen. On the faq it says that subscribers + subscribers of people who recommend you see your notes, but I also see notes from other people sometimes. How is it determined what this 'other' pool of notes is that you see?
I think notes seems like a great feature but I can’t actually get my head round who actually sees any notes I post - I am presuming only those who subscribe to my Substack and who have also enabled notes?? I think notes may work best for those who already have lots of subscribers so I’m not clear how it helps me with my small number of subscribers! Hence I have not used it yet as I do not want to die embarrassingly and have no one like my first note!! Sort of think it’s added to my imposter syndrome on here...
Same here, I'm relatively new on Substack. I tried Notes, and nobody sees my posts.
I gave it a try as Twitter feels the same, like posting into the void. I'm severely punished by the algorithm there.
However, I don't see how small accounts can grow on Notes. There is no method for discovery that I can see.
Yes I totally agree. It’s a great feature if you are already fairly well established. It is really hard posting out into the void, I totally empathise. I’d like to see something that really supports new writers to get some visibility. Even the recommended read suggestions from what I can see are more established writers recommending each other. It can feel like a closed shop. Gosh I’m having a very cynical Thursday. Too much rain recently!
Yes Dakara, I used that very word 'void' and it actually got a direct and heart felt comment from a sub. I felt my writing was 'falling on deaf ears' at the time. Subs and #s have increased significantly but only after I made some changes. You have to stay fluid and monitor any fluctuations. I wrote my 'Precious Words' article for the benefit of all writers here wherever
like I said, if you have other writers recommending you, then their subscribers also see your notes as far as I understand. But there are also some other things going on that I would like to understand better.
Yes but what happens if you haven’t got other writers recommending you. I’m not even at that stage so it feels a bit of a no-go area just yet...
Yes true, I had the same question...
A agree with this, I would like to understand how the algorithm works. I like how we can see notes filtered by the people we subscribe to.
Good plan
There is a filter for subscribed in notes but maybe only on the desktop version right now...
I'd like to know how are writers planning to use notes for their publications??
I plan to float seeds of ideas in notes, and write the full newsletters based on the responses
Great idea, I'll try it myself. Thanks!
I'm telling my readership that daily I pop in things related to the newsletter that I find and I think may be of interest to them. 'snippets' is my description.
So far, I've restacked a bunch of articles from other Substackers, made an announcement about an upcoming podcast, and shared a cute puppy pic from when my doggie was little. And also left a few comments on other people’s notes.
Posting the other writers’ work is something I haven’t done with my publication at large, but within the Substack ecosystem it felt safer and lower pressure, and it started some nice conversations.
In the future, I also plan to share quotes from things I am reading and plan to share in my publication.
I haven’t sent an invite to my subscribers, and I don’t think I will. For now, I’m just seeing it as another way to meet other Substackers.
How about you?
Will there be any metatagging (i.e. hashtags) to curate notes within a broader conversation or community? How can I use Notes to amplify my newsletter among a specific audience?
We are discussing options for this. We haven't landed on a specific mechanism, but we recognize the need for creating groups/sub-groups within the space.
please, no hashtags! Let it be something smarter and behind the scenes, and not visible to human readers.
I agree that there needs to be some kind of mechanism for this. No idea what the best approach would be, but I have faith in you, Cain. You’re our only hope. Please excuse me for quoting Princess Leia. We’re watching far too much Star Wars in my house.
I am noticing that there is an emerging trend in Notes where authors are using as a way of broadcasting their subscription numbers. I have to say I find this tiresome.
Agreed, but I think it's people who are also trying to show the potential impact of using Notes. As someone who is desperately trying to deprogram myself from obsession with numbers, that is a bit tiresome and discouraging. But otherwise I'm loving the experience.
Same to deprogramming myself on numbers. Redirecting myself to think more about the art of it and impact.
And thinking in terms of a community of readers that keep coming back for more instead of just reading one piece and moving on with their life. I also wouldn't mind if more of them were sharing with others, which is why I LOVE the "Restack" option that we have now. It's a much cleaner way to share the writing of others (that I admire) with the bigger community without making my own personal email feed a complete mess. I can see Notes improving my life as both a reader and writer.
I haven't really grokked the Restack capability yet. I need to pay better attention to how and when people are using it. I don't think I've yet seen something Restacked.
A lot more of it today. I've done several :-)
I have to take advantage of the Restack option.
It's great for your own work as well. There are recent posts that I plan to spread out and share over the next couple of weeks to entice people to check out my work. And the quote "Restack" feature is genius. I love that I can highlight a quote and it shares the quote that links directly back to the article. Check out that feature as well. I'm just playing at this point :-)
Hoping some of this is temporary
I have been noticing that a lot of people are posting hashtags with their notes. It appears that these are not actually a feature of Notes. Anyone have any insight?
I've been posting to Notes the same way I do on Twitter (and LinkedIn and Reddit and Hacker News, etc.), just to see what happens. Like an experiment. Noticed the hashtags aren't operable. I've found them useful in the past...
I think that they are very useful and I would like to see Substack incorporate. I am a photographer, but i shoot Large Format film mostly. Being able to use hashtags enables people like me to find others who operate in our creative space much more easily and effectively.
Habit?
probably. Personally when I see hashtags my eyes gloss over. I hope we don't end up with them in Notes. A step backward
I like how people use them on Instagram, clustered at the bottom of posts. They are a system feature that enhances discovery but not really meant to be read, and should not interfere with messaging. I agree, they can be unsightly.
I'm liking notes - feels more curated, seems smarter, not full of garbage. Wow! and no ads!
So many ‘smaller’ writers here are asking about how to get visibility on notes, it’s quite simple really, reply and respond in thoughtful ways to the notes that interest you, and you will be seen.
👆THIS.
Thanks for Notes! Small is beautiful! I'd love to see more discoverability for smaller stable publications driven by new super-innovative Substack algorithms.
Hey all — This doesn't answer all the questions I'm seeing here (not even close!), but this morning I listened to the founders discuss Notes (and Twitter's response) on the podcast "On with Kara Swisher" and highly recommend. Here's a link: https://pod.link/1643307527/episode/123c7903f9603cff877c706585b6fc7b
Tech Questions:
Q1: Will there be a separate app for Notes? How do you plan to grow the platform or it’s feature while it’s a nested feature in a app? If it is staying put does that mean there won’t be any big feature updates like audio rooms or something that would require more screen real estate?
Q2: Did the rollout go according to plan mostly? How was it behind the scenes? Were there any moments that you knew it was going to be ok or it had worked, or the other way around?
Q3: Was there any analytical or data anomalies that stood out? Like time of interactions, avg length of note, etc.
Q4: Are you doing this all in house or do you contract the work? What about for help desk?
Q5: ETA on swapping out the subscribe button for a follow notes button and put the subscribe in ellipsis or even make it a setting so the user can choose which button is displayed?
Love notes but wish/hope/pray the Substack folks will figure out how to group things by subject categories. Too many notes for me to read. Making it possible for people to identify notes topics of interest would boost engagement.
Love it so far.
Question 1: Is their going to be a way to insert a link using the Mardown method or a button in the iOS app? Having Bold and Italics has been awesome since I use markdown for all my note taking and writing.
Question 2: Without algorithmic choices is there going to be any way, other than 2 degrees of relationship, for smaller creators to be discovered by others? I know our Timeline isn’t meant to become a bunch of people you do not care about. At the same time we do not want it to be like shouting into the Blue Void either. We don’t want to be drowned out by the big creators. I think their is a solution here that is more nuanced than a comment can give Justice to. Wonder your take.
One thing I like a lot about Notes is how your notes get seen by the subscribers of other substacks that recommend you. Presumably, those would be the readers with overlapping interests, so the odds of them subscribing to you are probably higher than for random others.
I'm a little concerned that this might encourage some people to subscribe to as many newsletters as possible, in the hopes of getting more coverage. Just yesterday someone subscribed to my newsletter and I noticed that they are subscribed to 230 newsletters. Yikes.
Yes, I saw the same - some super-subscribers here that must have an agenda since they are never going to read any. Makes me cynical that everyone's just out to get more subs; we're all playing a game!
230. Wow.
Not sure if someone mentioned this or not, but it would be nice to know how well a Note is doing in terms of engagement? Maybe it's too early for that but just a thought.
I think Notes could be improved with a mechanism that discourages endless scrolling.
Sure, scrolling is how folks discover more notes to read, but we also know that endless scrolling isn't good for anyone.
This seems like a classic opportunity for a creative constraint. The question would be how to disincentivize scrolling in a way that adds instead of subtracts value.
I wonder if the Substack team considered non-endless scrolling in designing Notes…?
Last week I fixed a bug where sometimes you would reach the bottom of the feed and it wouldn't load more. This makes me think I should have considered it a feature. :D
well, yes... you should! it could be an optional feature with an on-off toggle in settings ... or it could just get slower and slower, more frictionful... or take you somewhere else... or be limited based on how much you write, or who knows, but as I said above, we all know that endless scrolling isn't good for anyone.
Hi there! I've noticed that some people have their substacks listed right under their names when they post to notes. Is that something I can do in my profile settings, or is this something you "earn" by number of subscribers, or...? would like it to be clear that I not only subscribe to various newsletters, but that i also write one!
Hi Maya, that should happen automatically if you have a primary publication (and it looks like you do), but when you're browsing Notes, you won't actually see your own publication linked below your name. You'll only see other user's publications.
You do this by highlighting some text in your own Substack and hitting the ‘Restack’ button that pops up
I’m sure with a community of right-minded and right-thinking people we will make Substack and its new features like notes very useful and interesting. Frankly, I’m still feeling a little lost and swallowed but love it when any of you reach out!
Polinate seems to be the thing with Notes also, flowers can bloom from all newsletters that way :)
I really like Notes! The challenge is I'm a small, niche account. I write about slavery in Massachusetts and New England, so my audience is specific and it's difficult for me to build engagement on any social media platform. I need strategies to build engagement on Substack Notes beyond spamming my links to the "Home" timeline. Does Substack have any plans to perhaps boost "little guy" accounts through Notes? Or is my ultra-nice Substack relegated to obscurity? 😂
I had hoped Notes would be a direct-to-subscriber email tool, as a way of showing appreciation to the 6 per cent of my readers who are paid subscribers. I don't want to paywall, or hide archives, or write lengthy special content for $$ subscribers. I think there's some utopian thinking behind making Substack more of a "community," but there's definitely a wall between boomers like me who tend to find Notes to be just more clutter to navigate away from, and those younger digital natives who like all these shiny new things, and may even know how to make better use of them.
I'm trying to decide if my subscribers really WANT more interaction, and at the same time, whether I have capacity to manage more of it. I've been a little too busy to digest the Notes info that's come to us so far, so forgive me if the answer to this is buried somewhere or, worse, really obvious. :D Here are my questions. Insights on any or all would be much appreciated.
>>> It appears when we launch Notes, that all subscribers get an email notification. Does that mean they also get notifications when there are new comments?
>>> How does discoverability actually happen, or improve?
>>> I noticed that a larger account to which I subscribe had hundreds of comments. So, people are talking amongst themselves and the author/OP is left to decide where or how to engage. What an investment!
>>> How does Notes differ from Chat?
Hey Elizabeth, you may want to let your subscribers know about Notes because it may introduce them to other authors or content that they would enjoy. I mention that because I’m sure some of your members would enjoy spending time there even if you, yourself, aren’t very active in that space.
The Chat feature will only show things you post there to people who are subscribed to you. No one else can see it. Additionally, I believe you can paywall posts in Chat. Notes will show you posts written by anyone to whom you are subscribed and it will show you if those authors (the ones you’ve subscribed to) reply to someone else (even if you are not following that person). This creates opportunities for new people to discover the Notes you post and ultimately your newsletter.
Sorry to have missed this earlier, John. Appreciate the reply. Will give it some more consideration! :)
I joined the conversation late today, and someone may have already asked this question, but how exactly does Notes help promote your Substack? I feel a bit overwhelmed--getting on Substack was a huge step, and now Notes compared to Twitter, etc. Is Notes best used to promote your own content in short form format? I have seen folks recommend books, websites, just say hello on Notes, and it was not that intuitive to me. And yes, I am not a full fledged social media person--do FB but not one of those who cross promotes diligently on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube etc. Many thanks! Anu http://anuprabhala.substack.com
I'd really appreciate a way to opt out of "Notes." It's very disappointing that Substack chose forced participation instead.
I left Twitter to get away from constant notifications and "quick react" content.
But now, you, Substack, won't allow me to avoid it.
Please let us opt out.
you can turn off all note notifications from your account settings (on desktop), that helps to keep your phone free from the tidal wave of notifications
Thank you very much.