I'm usually a strong supporter of every new Substack feature, but "reactions" seems like going more and more into a social media look & feel. one of my fav things about Substack is how it distances itself from the social media way of doing things. anyway, swipeable full screen images is very, very good. and, please, can we get anchor links? :)
Hi Gaía! I feel you in the social media allergies. Fortunately, "likes" don't drive discovery as they do on twitter, fb, ig... They are just a signal to the writer that people have read and enjoyed your piece. I really fell in love with seeing the people behind the "likes" as we were testing the feature - helped me understand who our most active readers were, and who was seeing the posts even if not commenting. Made the readership more "real" to me. But we would love to keep hearing your feedback as you use it. Keep us updated here or elsewhere if it continues to feel off?
Bailey, I love knowing who likes, but I already get notifications about that. Many in my audience are shy, and I'm afraid of scaring them away from liking. It's a constant challenge to get folks to understand that NBH is a site, not just emails, so navigating their way to the privacy settings (or even knowing this is an option) is another hill for the privacy-conscious to navigate.
This was exactly my reaction. And as a reader, I had a mild panic attack until I learned here that I could turn them off. It’s nobody’s business what else I read or what posts I like! It feels invasive. Of course I want that feature switched off! But the average reader may not realize that’s an option and may be put off from engaging entirely. As someone who appreciates my privacy, I certainly would be…
I use "likes" for a kind of discovery (though after writing this I realize you probably meant algorithmic discovery, boosting highly reacted-to posts, which I am glad substack does not do)--if I find an article I like I see who else liked it, and see what they write or read and follow a chain from there. It can be a good way of discovering otherwise hidden authors through a kind of network-effect.
Hi Scoot, yes this is how I read it too. There's almost never a post I've read and liked that I wouldn't want someone else to read and like. But because everyone has different preferences around sharing their reading, I'm also glad there's the ability to enable/disable the feature. Thanks for sharing your comments and feedback!
Need better control over placement of images, especially when they are resized. Need text wrap around images, center justify, and left and right justify.
All pretty good updates although I still say that an audio reader feature on the app would be beneficial. Especially for people who might have accessibility issues in the visual spectrum.
I love these updates and that you keep us up to date on them!
Would you ever consider a tagging function? There’s a long list of pros and cons, but it might be a good way to get a fellow writer looped into a conversation they’d be interested in. (It could also be too social-media-y, so I’ll leave it up to the brilliant Substack team to figure that out!)
That’s why I’m hesitant to suggest it! It could open up a can of worms for pile ons. 😬
But Katie (this is where I would tag you if I could), to answer your question: I primarily would want it to have conversations between interested parties.
Alternatively, maybe there’s a way to just tag publications? As in: “This is an interesting article! Have you read anything on @Common Sense? I think you’d have a lot in common.” And then someone from Common Sense would be notified they had been tagged in a comment.
I like the idea of tagging publications, especially in articles, so I don’t have to go find their URL. 😅 It could also be a good way to let you know who is talking about you on substack.
Would also love to know which parts of tagging feel most annoying! Is it that others are tagging and notifying you, or more the aesthetics of seeing @this and @that everywhere?
it's annoying to me because i feel like it is a tool of 'influencer' culture, which is a giant human centipede i'd rather not get in the middle of. hope that helps! ;-)
My biggest concern is the potential of toxicity, piling on, trying to get a writer’s attention on a post. One of the things I love about Substack as a “social” platform is how I usually don’t see people trashing other writers here. Tagging could open it up to that.
On the other hand, I would love the ability to call people’s in the comment thread we’re already commenting in! If someone said something insightful somewhere else in a 600+ comment thread, it would be nice to point that comment out to them. It would also be cool to tag other publications in a post and have it work a little like recommendations so you can see who reads your post or follows you.
Points in favor, Wordpress uses tags and it is HUGE for helping discover writers. Even if writers don't normally write under a certain topic, if they have a one-off that they tag a certain way, I can see that post. I used it to carve out "territory" for myself and increase my presence in a few specific tags so that other readers in that space would be able to find me.
I can tell that substack is going for a better/different model--so far I like that we are given limited options to categorize our newsletters because it forces people to decide what they are about. There's kind of a taxonomy system at play here. I won't step on the creative technicians behind substack but I can tell this is an active issue and I am excited to see what comes out of it. Keep up the good work!
I disagree with you about the limited categories. As a reader, I find it makes it very difficult to discover substacks I would enjoy reading and subscribing to and as contributor I find it hard to place my substack. I have another substack I'm going to be starting shortly and cannot think how I will categorise it. i think a lot more needs to be done on discoverability.
Great updates, thank you! I am wondering if writers can also be given the option to highlight text in their custom color. For example, in draft mode, when I highlight text I'm working on, it highlights it beautifully in my chosen brand color! I would love for this to become a feature. Right now, I have an imperfect work-around--I highlight the text and take a screenshot of it, then delete and upload this image as a photo. The only problem is it doesn't translate to mobile well. But it's a lovely, simple way to accent text within the color scheme. Thank you for considering!!
Are you still working on the ability to post multiple audio files in a single post? I want to send out one post that has a month of past posts read aloud as an audio file. It's my was of doing a new monthly podcast using my older content
Great updates! Any news about the app for Android?
We are working on it!
Katie, really excited about that, even though most of my subscribers seem to be email people. :)
I'm surprised that it's not out yet, but thank you!
I was just about to ask the same!
I'm usually a strong supporter of every new Substack feature, but "reactions" seems like going more and more into a social media look & feel. one of my fav things about Substack is how it distances itself from the social media way of doing things. anyway, swipeable full screen images is very, very good. and, please, can we get anchor links? :)
Hi Gaía! I feel you in the social media allergies. Fortunately, "likes" don't drive discovery as they do on twitter, fb, ig... They are just a signal to the writer that people have read and enjoyed your piece. I really fell in love with seeing the people behind the "likes" as we were testing the feature - helped me understand who our most active readers were, and who was seeing the posts even if not commenting. Made the readership more "real" to me. But we would love to keep hearing your feedback as you use it. Keep us updated here or elsewhere if it continues to feel off?
Bailey, I love knowing who likes, but I already get notifications about that. Many in my audience are shy, and I'm afraid of scaring them away from liking. It's a constant challenge to get folks to understand that NBH is a site, not just emails, so navigating their way to the privacy settings (or even knowing this is an option) is another hill for the privacy-conscious to navigate.
This was exactly my reaction. And as a reader, I had a mild panic attack until I learned here that I could turn them off. It’s nobody’s business what else I read or what posts I like! It feels invasive. Of course I want that feature switched off! But the average reader may not realize that’s an option and may be put off from engaging entirely. As someone who appreciates my privacy, I certainly would be…
I use "likes" for a kind of discovery (though after writing this I realize you probably meant algorithmic discovery, boosting highly reacted-to posts, which I am glad substack does not do)--if I find an article I like I see who else liked it, and see what they write or read and follow a chain from there. It can be a good way of discovering otherwise hidden authors through a kind of network-effect.
Hi Scoot, yes this is how I read it too. There's almost never a post I've read and liked that I wouldn't want someone else to read and like. But because everyone has different preferences around sharing their reading, I'm also glad there's the ability to enable/disable the feature. Thanks for sharing your comments and feedback!
I second anchor links!
Oh LAWD, yes! Anchor links!
If you want to share a link to a particular section in one of your Substack posts, do this:
Add #:~:text=targetword to the end (no spaces) of the url you want to link to.
Where “Bonus” is my target word, see it in action: https://pau1.substack.com/p/how-to-make-your-newsletters-undeplatformable#:~:text=Bonus
(Sometimes you have to eliminate everything after and including the ? within the URL)
It will link to the first instance of the targetword, so make sure it is the first targetword on that page.
Thanks so much, Paul!
Me three! Absolutely a huge priority. :)
Anchor- absolutely. Because a future podcast is coming, though likely not until 2023.
Need better control over placement of images, especially when they are resized. Need text wrap around images, center justify, and left and right justify.
Yes, Yes, and Yes. Particularly the “text wrap.”
I would like to co-sign on text wrapping as well.
TEXT WRAP. I was just lamenting this on a previous post.
All pretty good updates although I still say that an audio reader feature on the app would be beneficial. Especially for people who might have accessibility issues in the visual spectrum.
👂
I love these updates and that you keep us up to date on them!
Would you ever consider a tagging function? There’s a long list of pros and cons, but it might be a good way to get a fellow writer looped into a conversation they’d be interested in. (It could also be too social-media-y, so I’ll leave it up to the brilliant Substack team to figure that out!)
You are right, lots of pros and cons! Do you imagine using tags as a tool for discovery primarily?
can i respectfully cast my vote against this? it's one of the many reasons i can't stand social media. someone has to stop the insanity!
Amen.
That’s why I’m hesitant to suggest it! It could open up a can of worms for pile ons. 😬
But Katie (this is where I would tag you if I could), to answer your question: I primarily would want it to have conversations between interested parties.
Alternatively, maybe there’s a way to just tag publications? As in: “This is an interesting article! Have you read anything on @Common Sense? I think you’d have a lot in common.” And then someone from Common Sense would be notified they had been tagged in a comment.
agree! tagging just publications could be a good middle ground...
I like the idea of tagging publications, especially in articles, so I don’t have to go find their URL. 😅 It could also be a good way to let you know who is talking about you on substack.
Would also love to know which parts of tagging feel most annoying! Is it that others are tagging and notifying you, or more the aesthetics of seeing @this and @that everywhere?
it's annoying to me because i feel like it is a tool of 'influencer' culture, which is a giant human centipede i'd rather not get in the middle of. hope that helps! ;-)
My biggest concern is the potential of toxicity, piling on, trying to get a writer’s attention on a post. One of the things I love about Substack as a “social” platform is how I usually don’t see people trashing other writers here. Tagging could open it up to that.
On the other hand, I would love the ability to call people’s in the comment thread we’re already commenting in! If someone said something insightful somewhere else in a 600+ comment thread, it would be nice to point that comment out to them. It would also be cool to tag other publications in a post and have it work a little like recommendations so you can see who reads your post or follows you.
Points in favor, Wordpress uses tags and it is HUGE for helping discover writers. Even if writers don't normally write under a certain topic, if they have a one-off that they tag a certain way, I can see that post. I used it to carve out "territory" for myself and increase my presence in a few specific tags so that other readers in that space would be able to find me.
I can tell that substack is going for a better/different model--so far I like that we are given limited options to categorize our newsletters because it forces people to decide what they are about. There's kind of a taxonomy system at play here. I won't step on the creative technicians behind substack but I can tell this is an active issue and I am excited to see what comes out of it. Keep up the good work!
I disagree with you about the limited categories. As a reader, I find it makes it very difficult to discover substacks I would enjoy reading and subscribing to and as contributor I find it hard to place my substack. I have another substack I'm going to be starting shortly and cannot think how I will categorise it. i think a lot more needs to be done on discoverability.
Thank you for the ongoing updates. Your creativity is very much appreciated.
LOVE that the Substack team is always awake at the wheel steering changes.
I love the embed quality as well...but I wish there was one for Instagram, Facebook, or other videos.
Making it so simple to like a Writer's content is equally brilliant. 👌 Bravo, Bravia, or OI! Whichever suits readers of this comment.
Hi Annabella, we are listening and will continue to iterate and improve embeds across platforms.
Thank you! You read my mind!
I love the new reactions feature!
TikTok embeds yesssss! 🙌
Great updates, thank you! I am wondering if writers can also be given the option to highlight text in their custom color. For example, in draft mode, when I highlight text I'm working on, it highlights it beautifully in my chosen brand color! I would love for this to become a feature. Right now, I have an imperfect work-around--I highlight the text and take a screenshot of it, then delete and upload this image as a photo. The only problem is it doesn't translate to mobile well. But it's a lovely, simple way to accent text within the color scheme. Thank you for considering!!
Great news! Any updates on a link referral program?
Thank you!
Literally I am so happy I have been waiting for the ability to embed tiktoks since I started with Substack... this will revolutionize my newsletter!
Glad to hear it!
Are you still working on the ability to post multiple audio files in a single post? I want to send out one post that has a month of past posts read aloud as an audio file. It's my was of doing a new monthly podcast using my older content
We are, stay tuned Ric!
Ima one track mind on this, lol