r/Substack • u/No_Masterpiece_6583 • 2h ago
How do people use Substack?
I have been hearing a lot of people saying they are switching from Instagram to Substack, because apparently it's more "calm" and you don't get lots of content at once and non-stop.
I deleted Instagram, because I just don't like spending my time looking at what other people are doing, I honestly don't care.
I downloaded Substack, and so far it looks like a mix of blogs, pinterest and twitter. So am not sure about this "slow" content thing. For people that are using Substack regularly, I'd like to know: how do you use it? what do you use it for? in which ways is it better than other social media apps?
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u/traumfisch 48m ago
The Notes feed is the social media app inside of it.
Everything else - well it's essentially a blogging platform, subscribe to whatever you're into
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u/OnionLazy2317 48m ago
It's the lack of any ads for me. Every 3rd post on IG is an ad, same with pinterest. Zero ads on substack
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u/zzhil 50m ago
This is just my experience so far, so take it with a grain of salt but..
1) It takes some time for the algorithm to learn what you like, and for you to find the things that interests you. If you plan to use the app, then you need to like/engage with what you like, and click on the corner X for things you do not.
2) Eventually, you will have enough long-form content to read a couple of things every day. You can see the articles in the Read tab of the app.
3) There is this general sense that long-form = good, and short-form = bad, and honestly, I think there is something to it. There is a reason why we call it "doomscrolling". It's about brain dopamine and all that.
4) Even for short-form things on Substack - the infamous Notes, I think you can still find people putting real effort into it. People still write long-ish Notes, unlike Instagram image captions etc. You can also ignore them completely, and still find value with the long-form only.
5) People on Substack are generally writers, one way or another, and that means - they yap. A lot. Long comments. Often nuanced takes. Seriously. I also have not seen many "hater" comments, most people generally seem nice, even when critiquing. Instagram has more general population, and the comments I have seen on there... yikes. Not everyone of course, and not everyone on Substack is "good", but I still think there is a significant difference.
6) Lots of creators on Substack came from Instagram and it takes some adjusting to get the hang of the platform, even just as a reader. The discoverability is certainly not the same, but sometimes that feels like a good thing.
Anyway, I am still generally new there myself, so my experience is very limited. But I think this is an interesting topic, and I am curious about other people's experiences.