Better Discoverability On Substack
Users request categories, tagging, topic recommendation
October 8, 2022
https://yemjam.substack.com/p/yem-joining-substack/comment/9587752
March 16, 2023
https://on.substack.com/p/office-hours-71/comment/13671749
April 6, 2023
https://suggestionbox.substack.com/p/im-a-reader-and-id-like-to-file-a/comment/14306207
From The Ombudsman
Dear Substack Leadership,
The above are just a few examples of unnecessary difficulty that users experience when trying to expand their audience.
Possible solutions are:
A redesigned “Substack.com” page that acts as a continuous feed of all the latest articles published by Substack writers, with sections for “leader board” “top paid” “discussions” etc.
Allowing tagging per post, categorization per section, and broader categories, but limiting the categories to nested groups of four so as not to overwhelm users:
Arts & Entertainment
Health, Fitness, & Nutrition
Politics
Finance
Under these top categories then four more nested categories can be revealed:
A&E: Art, Music, Movies & Television, Gaming
H, F & N: Health, Fitness, Nutrition, Substance Abuse
Politics: Law, Political Parties, Government, Opinion
Finance: Banking, Crypto, Markets, Taxation
Each of these can be further subcategorized, always by four, so as to keep the UI clean and easy to navigate.
Please respond with an estimated time of when this issue will be addressed:
If the response from Substack leadership is “never,” please thoroughly explain why in the comments below.
UPDATE (April 15, 2023)
Understandably over the years many readers and writers have requested better discoverability on Substack by both having a “just published” continuous feed of articles and tagging per post, as is done on other media platforms, e.g. Hacker News, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Because this kind of discoverability is not available on Substack, readers and writers are not easily able to access the entirety of available content by topic, category, or interest.
Substack leadership has instead focused on traditional “networking” with features like “Recommendations” and “Notes,” both of which rely on who the writer knows, is loosely connected to, or already subscribed to, thus creating insular cliques or communities. For readers, this means seeing content promoted that the writer of a publication likes, for example, which may not align at all with the reader’s interests.
Moreover, although the promise of Substack for many is finding a home for very niche content, functionally Substack behaves like other algorithmically controlled social media sites that dictate what users see, except that Substack seems programmed to promote about 200+ specific publications (28 categories times 7 recommended publications). These promoted publications are, for instance, what a new reader to Substack.com encounters throughout the “Notes” feature:
One perhaps unintended consequence for content creators on Subtack when using “Recommendations” and “Notes” is that their subscribers are thus encouraged to subscribe to competing publications that are “suggested” to them. Moreover, because Substack actively promotes some publications, by highlighting them in product announcements and featured interviews, for example, the effect of this is that publications with fewer subscribers may be funneling their subscribers to the top promoted Subtack writers.
These promoted publications, many of which are from professional writers whom Substack paid to be on the platform, are further distinguished by a badge system that naturally results in giving them more legitimacy.
All of the above means that for many the promise of Substack as a place where someone who does not have an established following can grow a publication is not realized. Instead, a “rich get richer, while the poor get poorer” system is in place.
We urge Substack to implement discoverability features such a “just published” feed and tagging that allow all content creators an equal chance to build an audience on a level playing field. This would not only fulfill Substack’s promise to “Start a newsletter. Build your community. Make money from subscriptions,” but it would INCREASE the pool of content creators who host paid publications.
By limiting the growth of smaller publications, Substack effectively hampers its future growth as a platform and company. Free publications with hundreds of subscribers under the current system are severely stymied and unlikely to turn into paying publications. Furthermore, paying large sums to professional writers to publish on Substack is unsustainable, “Substack raised $65 million in 2021. It burned $25 million that same year to make negative revenue. […]Well, in an attempt to woo big-name talent, Substack guaranteed some writers a minimum income. It wound up paying out more than it took in.” [Rose Cleaver, Lone Tree Voice, April 7, 2023]
On the other hand, by having better content discoverability through tagging and expanded, nested categories, as well as having an active feed of all latest posts, thus becoming a larger “Hacker News” site, Substack.com can become the premier destination on the internet for interesting content and discussion.
Nice to have a place to ask Discoverability questions. Hope this catches on, LE.
plz add built in translation