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Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?

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Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?

#11

Post by netizen-936824 »

xtlyths wrote: post #10
neural_thing wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(obligatory shilling) If we are missing a feature you want, come help us build it! https://substack.com/jobs

I've heard people reference this platform before, but I have no idea what it is. I just looked at the substack.com, and I feel like I still don't understand it. Is it a blogging platform mixed with a newsletter tool? Either I missed it entirely, or the landing page assumes I know what it is before I get there. Even the about page is buried in "link soup" at the bottom of the page and just leads to hand waving and eve…

From the first paragraph on the linked jobs page:

>We make it simple for writers to publish to an email list that they own, get discovered on the web, and charge for subscriptions.

Sounds to me like a blogging and newsletter platform with subscription fees paid to writers

Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?

#12

Post by larqts »

Your question appears to imply that writers are unhappy, without mentioning specifics.

I'm just a reader who finds that many of the most interesting written opinion pieces on the Internet are on Substack these days. So, for readers it is definitely worth it!

Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?

#13

Post by detaro »

It's at high risk to run in the medium-reputation-problem: If you have e.g. the choice between your stuff being linked as "foobar.platform.com" and "foobar.com", the former is great if the platform confers a positive image over any other random URL. That's often the case early-on for new platforms, when they pull in cool early adopters and thus are associated with high-quality content. E.g. the trope-namer medium.com early on had a reputation for nice clean pages and good content. The problem is, that often changes over time, and now a medium.com link encountered in the wild suggests "stupid subscription nagging" and "low-quality self-promotion think-pieces", it's not the neighborhood you want your content to be seen in if it is any good.

For now substack isn't there yet (although you start to hear the first sentiments in that direction), and their focus on subscription helps avoid it to a degree too, I also see more often people point to "their substack" from elsewhere. But if they go the path of putting the platform more in the foreground, i.e. not "foobars newsletter, which happens to be on substack, but you don't really need to know or notice that", but more "go to substack to find cool content!", that risk increases. Again the medium-comparison: medium was and is big on finding other stuff on medium. Which means even if you read a good article, right next to it medium will push you to read more fluff, because their algorithms have no clue how to promote relevant high-quality content.

Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?

#14

Post by PaulHoule »

DrNuke wrote: post #3
PaulHoule wrote: post #2

Worth the hassle for a content provider to join or worth the hassle for readers?

Both… I think subscribers are generally happy for what they get, and there a number of interesting providers. I also can read about a few providers not being happy. Are you on there in some capacity?

I can’t see what would possess somebody to subscribe to a mailing list for any reason in 2022. Email is mostly for receiving spam today, I’d much rather read blogs in a basically clean set of RSS feeds rather than getting opted in from several businesses every day, some of which I know, some of which I don’t.

Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?

#15

Post by akpa1 »

detaro wrote: post #13

It's at high risk to run in the medium-reputation-problem: If you have e.g. the choice between your stuff being linked as "foobar.platform.com" and "foobar.com", the former is great if the platform confers a positive image over any other random URL. That's often the case early-on for new platforms, when they pull in cool early adopters and thus are associated with high-quality content. E.g. the trope-namer medium.com…

At this point, just seeing medium.com has a good chance of turning me away from a given article.

Medium tends to routinely be broken for me, be it because of my efforts to bypass the paywalls and run adblockers or just because of how the site is built. I find the article itself often isn't worth the effort.

Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?

#16

Post by StevePerkins »

neural_thing wrote: post #7

Disclaimer: I work at Substack. For readers - yes, there is something on Substack you will absolutely love. We don't do a fantastic job of surfacing all the content yet, but we're working on it. For writers - depends on what you want. If you want to self-host or customize every bit of design - we probably aren't for you. If you want it to be super easy to publish a free or paid newsletter - Substack is great. If you…

Substack is "Medium + OnlyFans". It attracts content creators because there's not yet alternatives that offer such turnkey monetization (e.g. Patreon is all a bit more DIY). It works for readers because Substack pulled in some real heavy hitters as early adopters (maybe through enhanced financial incentives?), and so the Substack brand has been linked to those prestigious content creators.

Once they start promoting and monetizing the PLATFORM itself too much (aka "doing a fantastic job of surfacing all the content"), then the brand will lose its prestigious shine. It will become associated with "Twitter randos", rather than "former columnists at Rolling Stone and The Atlantic", etc. It will become more like Medium.

That in and of itself isn't the death knell. But that nail in the coffin will come as soon as competing turnkey-monetization alternatives emerge with fresher brand reputation. And I'm sure those competitors will emerge once Substack opens up the door by dialing down its prestige to promote itself more broadly.

Honestly, I don't know why people invest so much in online content. The early "hot new brand" stage has the shelf life of milk. Some of these brands stick around forever (Slate, Salon, etc), but it seems like they're slashed to skeleton staff after the first 5 or so years when the hotness cools. I guess the long tail of that white dwarf remnant stage trickles in enough revenue to justify keeping them around after people have moved onto the next thing?

Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?

#17

Post by samglover97 »

neural_thing wrote: post #8
neural_thing wrote: post #7

Disclaimer: I work at Substack. For readers - yes, there is something on Substack you will absolutely love. We don't do a fantastic job of surfacing all the content yet, but we're working on it. For writers - depends on what you want. If you want to self-host or customize every bit of design - we probably aren't for you. If you want it to be super easy to publish a free or paid newsletter - Substack is great. If you…

(obligatory shilling) If we are missing a feature you want, come help us build it! https://substack.com/jobs

I get the impression that the SEO on substack needs working on - sometimes when I google someone (e.g. 'Scott Alexander' or 'Matt Yglesias') their old pages with their old writing will come up before their substack page.
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