Substack is launching a new feature called Notes, very similar to what exists on other platforms, but very interesting here.
Since Elon Musk took over on Twitter, the least we can do is that the app market has changed a lot. Alternatives flourished, some services added similar features. Stubstack, the news feed platform, has launched a chat feature that allows creators to have Twitter-style conversations with their followers. This space is very reminiscent of AOL Instant Messenger or a simple group chat and is very similar to Reddit. Today, Substack is launching a new feature that is heavily featured on other social media platforms: notes.
Substack launches new feature called Notes
Newsletter creators can already recommend posts with a dedicated “Recommendations”option, but this Notes feature “will give them the ability to recommend just about anything they want, including posts, quotes, comments, images, links, and ideas,”co-founders Chris Best, Hamish McKenzie and Jayraj Seti wrote in their announcement. The feature will be available to everyone in the coming days.
“Our goal is to create dialogues that inspire, enlighten and entertain while providing creators with a powerful growth channel when these interactions find new audiences.” And it’s easy to add: “Imagine Kareem Abdul-Jabbar leaving a comment on Margaret Atwood’s note on science fiction trends; or Alison Roman share a quote from a fantastic recipe developed by an obscure food writer that is then inundated with followers.”
Very similar to what exists on other platforms, but very interesting here
The team acknowledges that Notes is very similar to what other social networks offer, but since Substack is a paid subscription network, you won’t see any ads. And that, according to Substack, “changes everything.” However, it should be noted that while Substack is not ad-based, it is not without its problems. In particular, because of the writers, among others, causing heated debate.
In any case, the co-founders of Substack are determined: moving away from this ad-based system will allow for a much thinner and more interesting space. “The lifeblood of the subscription network is the money paid out to people who do really well on it,” the trio wrote. “Here, people are rewarded when they respect the trust and attention of their audience. The ultimate goal of this platform is to turn casual readers into paying subscribers. In this system, the vast majority of financial rewards go to content creators.”