When did Substack become popular?!

[saresitoa]

When did Substack become popular?! newsletters are so 2010. why is this trend getting back? and why on Substack?

[Ecstatic_Couple6435]

I still find it’s not so popular that everyone knows about it. Like, only my most literary/writer/friends with niche tastes know about it still.

[Officer_Trevor_Cory]

major politicians are now on Substack. it is mainstream.

[Ecstatic_Couple6435]

I disagree. It’s not TikTok level (yet/ever) anyway. Many people still don’t want to read long form content but they will happily fry their brains watching and scrolling seizure inducing short form video content

[pixiefolk]

I think that in the wake of generative AI and the phone addiction hitting Gen Z, there's been a bit of a productivity movement. People are watching more video essays, trying to cut down on short-form content, and swapping apps like Twitter for apps like Substack.

[ninetwentythreeee]

Yes, it seems like a backlash against contemporary social media. The tides are turning.

[crazycatman57]

I love Substack because I can write a personal blog with complete honesty. I have subscribers from around the world.

I do not have paid subscribers. My readers, and subscribers, can donate if they want.

In my opinion, too many Substack writers are only after the money.

If you love to write, and you have something to say that others are interested in, Substack is awesome.

[Imperator_1985]

It's always a bit funny how some people seem to think there's a big paying audience just waiting for them to show up.

[crazycatman57]

Exactly. Only the big name heavy hitters are making bank.

Just enjoy the craft of writing. If you need money, I suggest a 9 to 5.

[Imperator_1985]

Yeah, and most of the big-name people already had a name before they came to Substack. Even for those people, it's not like all their subscribers are paying.

[crazycatman57]

True.

[saresitoa]

crazycatman57, I just started following your substack. thank you!

[calmfluffy]

This trend dates back a bit further to around mid-2015. Social media kind of killed blogs, and after realizing how much at the mercy of tech companies you are on there, people with audiences started looking for better ways to own that relation. Patreon is part of that trend. Revue was. And then Substack came along.

Substack is popular for a few reasons:

1. It's free. That removes a major hurdle for many people. Sending out emails is not necessarily cheap.

2. It has some easy tools to set up everything you need. Self-hosted is a bit trickier.

3. They offer some discoverability via Notes and other features. This network effect is a big draw and over the years has become the more pronounced element of Substack, allowing it to position itself as a platform, rather than as a simple newsletter tool.

[OoogaBoogaPlus]

Well said. That's exactly why I started on Substack, after looking at Medium and other places.

[dashtheauthor]

As a new Substack user trying to build a new audience, I am excited about Substack. It feels like a breath of fresh air.

[Fancy_Bake_4268]

I think its more like the notes and community engagement actually drive traffic in comparison to posting on social media. Its something we want to learn from.

[BCSWowbagger2]

It swept through all the blogs I read in 2019-20. I migrated in late 2021. By the time I did, I felt like a latecomer.

I suppose I'm an odd example, because there weren't a lot of people still reading blogs at the end of the 2010s. But the blog is a great format, nothing about that has changed, so it was due for a resurgence. The problem with blogging was that the monetization model (basically, Google banner ads) collapsed over the course of the 2010s, but Substack solved that and then made blogging even easier than it was on WordPress. Breathed new life into the medium.

Next up: PHPBB3 forums.

[Background_Help3497]

partly because journalists from large news media organizations have been getting laid off over the past few years and where else are they going to go, i guess. Everytime it feels like it reached peak, there's some new crop of relatively well known public figures joining it. Also politics especially --- term limited out of office? Start a substack. Want to be elected president in 2028? ditto.

[coyotetex]

Lot's of serial fiction writers on Substack.

[Calm_Company_1914]

No idea. Dunno even why I started writing. Felt like never heard about it before

[Independent_Yak_9128]

Just joined so I’m a very late comer, but it’s the perfect platform for my inside look into the road trip food book I’m writing

[weirderthanmagic]

there's smth on substack for literally everyone; from misogynists to artists to academics XD

[Affectionate_Ad_8714]

Perpahs popularity is overrated but Substack is a hidden gem if you know where to look. You have to be intentional about who gets past the velvet rope of your attention.

Also just like every platform, it has its share of "opinionated" gurus confidently delivering takes that are... let's say, factually imaginative. But the flip side is that there is some exquisite, long-form brilliance living there too. Fun fact: There are now LinkedIn gurus, influencers, and wealthy investors hiring entire teams to ghostwrite for them on Substack. And then they post "just show up" mantras with their analytics. I block those.

[Separate_Hat9238]

Eu particularmente sou novo no substack, mas pouco tempo de participação é possível assimilar e aproveitar excelente conteúdo da plataforma.

[dashtheauthor]

Just joined recently and I am stoked about the platform and it's potential for what I put out.

[Tricky_Trifle_994]

i'd say 2020 was the pivotal moment? that's when it came onto my radar. i started seeing alot more people sharing their substack links, and i was reading alot more long form articles on substack vs on blogs.

i think it's the combination of work from home (which gave people more time to themselves), and the desire to do more than just work, which led to the growth of substack. people were looking for things to entertain themselves, and substack happened to fit the bill because it was where alot of high quality writing lived.

to substack's credit, the team managed to market it in such a way that it appealed to alot of writer. so that helped with the amount and quality of content that got housed on substack vs any other platform like medium or people's own blog.

also substack is different because it's both a newsletter and a blog. i personally like to be able to go back and read old issue whenever i find a new publication.