Substack announces Notes as an answer to Twitter’s post-Musk problems

Substack argues that while Notes does look a lot like Twitter, it differs because it doesn't run on ads.

(Image: Substack)

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

Substack on Wednesday announced a new feature called Notes designed to let users share posts, quotes, comments, images, ideas, and links. These Notes when shared are displayed in a Twitter-like feed. They even behave like tweets, with like and comment counters at the bottom – and an option to “restack,” which is essentially retweet in Twitter terms.

The online platform, which is designed to serve as a resource for creators looking to start a subscription newsletter, seems intent on pulling users over from Twitter. Twitter has made some questionable changes post-Musk acquisition and is reportedly already losing users – its most active ones, to be precise.

With Notes, writers can post short content and communicate ideas with each other and their audience. Substack seems to agree that Notes resembles Twitter, as the company noted in its announcement that the feature “may look like familiar social media feeds.”

Story continues below this ad

Currently, the best way to discover new content on the platform is through the Browse option, which displays content in a news feed-like layout. But with this addition, users gain another way to find new content, while also interacting with other users.

Notes let you share and reply to your favorite writers (Image: Substack)

While Notes may look like Twitter, Substack stresses that it differs from traditional media feeds because it doesn’t run on ads.

“The lifeblood of an ad-based social media feed is attention,” the company wrote in a blog post. “By contrast, the lifeblood of a subscription network is the money paid to people who are doing great work within it. Here, people get rewarded for respecting the trust and attention of their audiences. The ultimate goal on this platform is to convert casual readers into paying subscribers. In this system, the vast majority of the financial rewards go to the creators of the content.”

Also read | How to remove blue tick/verification badge from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram?

This isn’t the first time Substack has tried to lure creators away from Twitter. In November, it launched Chat, a way for subscribers to interact with writers. Now with Notes, the platform is attempting to capitalise on the Twitter chaos further.

Story continues below this ad

Opening up the Substack Reader mobile app, we don’t see Notes just yet. Substack says that it will be rolled out “in the coming days,” and when it arrives, you should see a new notes icon on the bottom tab.

The company revealed that the platform now has 35 million active subscriptions to writers, including over 2 million paid subscriptions. Readers have paid writers and creators more than $300 million through the platform to date, with the top 10 publishers collectively making $25 million annually.

Tags:
Twitter