As a visual artist who occasionally dabble in writing I feel that video can enhance our visibility along with adding some personalized touch and transparency.
Also as an art teacher I feel that showing is better than telling.
This is how I've been thinking about it, as well. Just like how they've had a surprisingly mature podcast solution for years now. Nice to see some positivity. :)
Maybe, instead of asking "Could it be more?", we should be asking "Does it need to be more?".
As we've seen on other platforms, the addition of audio and video, whether intentionally or not, began to crowd out text content; as users rushed to take advantage of the algorithmic favor bestowed upon those newer tools. That favor was, as always, short-lived; but the habits it created became ingrained very quickly. And those who stuck to text found their reach diminished, through no fault of their own; because video-specialized creators jumped into those platforms and swallowed up space in them, to the detriment of everyone who had already been there.
Social media, despite what we're constantly told, *is* a zero-sum game; a Mr. Beast's redwood tree puts thousands of others' saplings in its shadow.
I do think it needs to be more. Not for my personal needs, but for Substack’s business needs. Text-focused social media platforms have always been the worst internet business out of everything that comes out of Silicon Valley. Twitter has never one time been profitable in its twenty year plus history. The sad fact of the matter is that there just aren’t enough people who prefer text.
We can grumble and complain about it, but at the end of the day Substack needs to pay their bills. They need to be able to show a return to their investors. I would rather have them incorporate video into their offerings than have the company go under. If they go under we lose what little haven Substack already provides entirely.
Alot of the concern you have about video seems to be rooted in fears of how Substack may prioritize it and push it onto its users, but has Substack ever done this? Have they ever taken a heavy-handed approach to their algorithms in the same way that Facebook companies do? I do not believe they have.
For example, Substack has really been pushing their podcasting offerings over the past year. Podcasting is a hot commodity and its growing on a lot of platforms; so, they beefed up their suite of podcasting tools. They’ve made several posts about everything you can do when podcasting on Substack.
Has your feed on Notes become overrun with podcasts? Are you having to wade through endless audio snippets to find text posts written by those you follow? No. You haven’t. That’s entirely due to how Substack approaches the algorithm.
You and I know one another. We have a relationship here on Substack. We share an interest in AI. We’re both old enough to remember the Carter administration. You see the things I post on Notes and I see what you post on Notes. Occasionally we’ll chitchat. Things will continue in exactly this same manner unless one of us decides to start posting video content. If you do that, I’ll see your videos, but I’ll see them because of our pre-existing relationship. I won’t see them because Substack is suddenly forcing video into my feed.
Will Substack promote video content? Sure, but they’ll do it in the same way they’ve always promoted some type of content. They’ll highlight someone who is using the new features in an exciting way. They’ll write blog posts about it. They’ll mention it on Hamish’s podcast or something similar. At present, I don’t see any evidence that they will tweak the algorithm to favor one type of content over another.
I still stand by my original statements. I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for video period. Whether you are seeking to create a creation platform or not is not the issue. It is again that there is no innovation beyond taking what others are doing and trying to logic your way to the end that oh well yeah discovery!
No, there are better ways of doing this. It's the same argument that all writers continually have with every platform. I write I don't want nor should I need to continually put myself in front of my work in order to reap the benefit of my work. Writing is one of the few art forms that allowed for such anonymity and it is continually being trampled upon by features that are meant for everything but.
Audio is closer to written text, made more convenient by the auto transcription reader. That was a high quality of life, improvement that was uniquely the stacks.
These are the kinds of features people have been requesting. The things that are core to being a writer is making writing easier and reading easier.
They want to add video and shorts and all the other 'creation' tools frame it properly. Don't do the thing where you look everywhere else and go oh we are complete with them let's take this idea and put it on our platform. Make it yours for Christ sake. Because taking this to it's logical end, the out cry for artist has been discovery. The solution is video, you compare that to Patreon which DOES NOT HAVE THIS ISSUE. There is no conversation about discovery because the assumption is you have your audience you are bringing to the platform and doing that leg work. Substack does not position itself this way. The assumption or general consensus since I've been here is we are here to help writers, get discovered, become better, and gather an audience.
I do not see how any video feature helps me as a writer. In a way that doesn't force me to do the things I came to writing for. I don't want to be the center of attention I want my.work to be, Anonymity. Twitch is a great case study for video needing a face to sale you content. For the longest time people were streaming without know who was behind the camera. And it was fine, once the formula change it was the only way to be successful on the platform. So the fear is not oh this is going to ruin. Substack. The fear is being forced to use specific features and tools to be successful on the platform. I just want to bloody write and occasionally maybe drop some audio of my written work.
Compound that by THE FEATURE WE'VE BEEM ASLING FOR AINCE THE APP WAS RELEASED HAS NOY BEEN EVEN REMOTELY MENTIONED, HINTED AT, OR TALKED ABOUT. The ability to WRITE IN APP. I feel like it's a slap in the face honestly. Because it is literally on every single thread, on every single update and announcement about features. It is the one major feature that adds such a major quality of life to the stack that is being missed continually.
Hey Howler, I really appreciate you dropping in to share your thoughts. Is Substack actively trying to appeal to what they’ve seen succeed on other platforms? Yes, I think they are. That’s a fair criticism.
I think some of the criticisms you bring up are tied into the things that Phil said above where he expressed his concerns about the algorithm. I addressed those issues in my comment to him.
Another concern you have— and I think it may be your primary objection to video— is your desire to remain anonymous. You are a visual artists. I’ve enjoyed seeing the sketches and drawings that you have shared on Notes. You’ve got the chops to make art. Why not animate something if you feel compelled to make video? It’s a ton of work, but there are many different approaches to animation. Some of the less onerous than the hand-drawn frame by frame type. Animation will never be as prolific as someone just talking into their camera, but its very rarity and the quality of your work could make your animations a special event… if you wanted to go that way.
However, even if you don’t, I don’t see these tools as changing Substack or Notes. Again, go see my comment to Phil because I believe it expresses the types of changes we’re going to see brought about by video… which is not a lot unless you happen to be following someone who decides to start posting videos.
At the end of the day, I realize I’m not going to change your mind and that’s fine, but I do think that all in all the status quo is going to continue to be the status quo and that these features will not change Substack and that’s because what you see on Substack is determined by who you follow. You are already probably following a lot of people who are text heavy. They will continue to be that way.
As for writing in the app? yeah, I don’t know what’s going on there. I think it has to do with the size of their engineering team and what they choose to prioritize. I have my own list of personal gripes for things I want them to fix. The fact that I have to tell you to go look at the comment I left to Shaggy instead of you automatically being notified about it or having the information presented to you in a way that makes it clear that other comments have been made bothers me. I think the way conversations are presented on Notes is horrible. That’s basic functionality stuff too. It’s the core product. If you’re going to fix anything, fix that.
But, sometimes companies have to prioritize feature sets that they feel will bring in cash right away. As much as I don’t like what I see as a flawed presentation on Notes (for how comments are handled), fixing that isn’t going to add dollars to their bank account in the short term. So they prioritize things that believe may do that.
This is the thing that bugs me about most company development of features and tools etc. they focus on short term gains instead of long term infinite strategies. Which are fixing the quality of life that your main consumer/user base is telling you to fix and focus on. Not what you feel you should do as a company to compete with other companies.
It’s a valid gripe but we don’t have visibility to how important that short term profit might be. Sometimes winning comes down to being able to play the game tomorrow and you can’t do that unless you can afford to stay in business one more day.
WELL SAID!
As a visual artist who occasionally dabble in writing I feel that video can enhance our visibility along with adding some personalized touch and transparency.
Also as an art teacher I feel that showing is better than telling.
Great thoughts.
This is how I've been thinking about it, as well. Just like how they've had a surprisingly mature podcast solution for years now. Nice to see some positivity. :)
A good thesis on where Substack may be heading. Thank you
Thanks. It’s entirely possible that I’m completely wrong, but it feels like I’m right. We’ll eventually find out.
Agreed!!
Maybe, instead of asking "Could it be more?", we should be asking "Does it need to be more?".
As we've seen on other platforms, the addition of audio and video, whether intentionally or not, began to crowd out text content; as users rushed to take advantage of the algorithmic favor bestowed upon those newer tools. That favor was, as always, short-lived; but the habits it created became ingrained very quickly. And those who stuck to text found their reach diminished, through no fault of their own; because video-specialized creators jumped into those platforms and swallowed up space in them, to the detriment of everyone who had already been there.
Social media, despite what we're constantly told, *is* a zero-sum game; a Mr. Beast's redwood tree puts thousands of others' saplings in its shadow.
Hey Shaggy,
I do think it needs to be more. Not for my personal needs, but for Substack’s business needs. Text-focused social media platforms have always been the worst internet business out of everything that comes out of Silicon Valley. Twitter has never one time been profitable in its twenty year plus history. The sad fact of the matter is that there just aren’t enough people who prefer text.
We can grumble and complain about it, but at the end of the day Substack needs to pay their bills. They need to be able to show a return to their investors. I would rather have them incorporate video into their offerings than have the company go under. If they go under we lose what little haven Substack already provides entirely.
Alot of the concern you have about video seems to be rooted in fears of how Substack may prioritize it and push it onto its users, but has Substack ever done this? Have they ever taken a heavy-handed approach to their algorithms in the same way that Facebook companies do? I do not believe they have.
For example, Substack has really been pushing their podcasting offerings over the past year. Podcasting is a hot commodity and its growing on a lot of platforms; so, they beefed up their suite of podcasting tools. They’ve made several posts about everything you can do when podcasting on Substack.
Has your feed on Notes become overrun with podcasts? Are you having to wade through endless audio snippets to find text posts written by those you follow? No. You haven’t. That’s entirely due to how Substack approaches the algorithm.
You and I know one another. We have a relationship here on Substack. We share an interest in AI. We’re both old enough to remember the Carter administration. You see the things I post on Notes and I see what you post on Notes. Occasionally we’ll chitchat. Things will continue in exactly this same manner unless one of us decides to start posting video content. If you do that, I’ll see your videos, but I’ll see them because of our pre-existing relationship. I won’t see them because Substack is suddenly forcing video into my feed.
Will Substack promote video content? Sure, but they’ll do it in the same way they’ve always promoted some type of content. They’ll highlight someone who is using the new features in an exciting way. They’ll write blog posts about it. They’ll mention it on Hamish’s podcast or something similar. At present, I don’t see any evidence that they will tweak the algorithm to favor one type of content over another.
Thank you!
I was excited about this new direction. Now I just have to figure out how I can use it effectively.
I still stand by my original statements. I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for video period. Whether you are seeking to create a creation platform or not is not the issue. It is again that there is no innovation beyond taking what others are doing and trying to logic your way to the end that oh well yeah discovery!
No, there are better ways of doing this. It's the same argument that all writers continually have with every platform. I write I don't want nor should I need to continually put myself in front of my work in order to reap the benefit of my work. Writing is one of the few art forms that allowed for such anonymity and it is continually being trampled upon by features that are meant for everything but.
Audio is closer to written text, made more convenient by the auto transcription reader. That was a high quality of life, improvement that was uniquely the stacks.
These are the kinds of features people have been requesting. The things that are core to being a writer is making writing easier and reading easier.
They want to add video and shorts and all the other 'creation' tools frame it properly. Don't do the thing where you look everywhere else and go oh we are complete with them let's take this idea and put it on our platform. Make it yours for Christ sake. Because taking this to it's logical end, the out cry for artist has been discovery. The solution is video, you compare that to Patreon which DOES NOT HAVE THIS ISSUE. There is no conversation about discovery because the assumption is you have your audience you are bringing to the platform and doing that leg work. Substack does not position itself this way. The assumption or general consensus since I've been here is we are here to help writers, get discovered, become better, and gather an audience.
I do not see how any video feature helps me as a writer. In a way that doesn't force me to do the things I came to writing for. I don't want to be the center of attention I want my.work to be, Anonymity. Twitch is a great case study for video needing a face to sale you content. For the longest time people were streaming without know who was behind the camera. And it was fine, once the formula change it was the only way to be successful on the platform. So the fear is not oh this is going to ruin. Substack. The fear is being forced to use specific features and tools to be successful on the platform. I just want to bloody write and occasionally maybe drop some audio of my written work.
Compound that by THE FEATURE WE'VE BEEM ASLING FOR AINCE THE APP WAS RELEASED HAS NOY BEEN EVEN REMOTELY MENTIONED, HINTED AT, OR TALKED ABOUT. The ability to WRITE IN APP. I feel like it's a slap in the face honestly. Because it is literally on every single thread, on every single update and announcement about features. It is the one major feature that adds such a major quality of life to the stack that is being missed continually.
Hey Howler, I really appreciate you dropping in to share your thoughts. Is Substack actively trying to appeal to what they’ve seen succeed on other platforms? Yes, I think they are. That’s a fair criticism.
I think some of the criticisms you bring up are tied into the things that Phil said above where he expressed his concerns about the algorithm. I addressed those issues in my comment to him.
Another concern you have— and I think it may be your primary objection to video— is your desire to remain anonymous. You are a visual artists. I’ve enjoyed seeing the sketches and drawings that you have shared on Notes. You’ve got the chops to make art. Why not animate something if you feel compelled to make video? It’s a ton of work, but there are many different approaches to animation. Some of the less onerous than the hand-drawn frame by frame type. Animation will never be as prolific as someone just talking into their camera, but its very rarity and the quality of your work could make your animations a special event… if you wanted to go that way.
However, even if you don’t, I don’t see these tools as changing Substack or Notes. Again, go see my comment to Phil because I believe it expresses the types of changes we’re going to see brought about by video… which is not a lot unless you happen to be following someone who decides to start posting videos.
At the end of the day, I realize I’m not going to change your mind and that’s fine, but I do think that all in all the status quo is going to continue to be the status quo and that these features will not change Substack and that’s because what you see on Substack is determined by who you follow. You are already probably following a lot of people who are text heavy. They will continue to be that way.
As for writing in the app? yeah, I don’t know what’s going on there. I think it has to do with the size of their engineering team and what they choose to prioritize. I have my own list of personal gripes for things I want them to fix. The fact that I have to tell you to go look at the comment I left to Shaggy instead of you automatically being notified about it or having the information presented to you in a way that makes it clear that other comments have been made bothers me. I think the way conversations are presented on Notes is horrible. That’s basic functionality stuff too. It’s the core product. If you’re going to fix anything, fix that.
But, sometimes companies have to prioritize feature sets that they feel will bring in cash right away. As much as I don’t like what I see as a flawed presentation on Notes (for how comments are handled), fixing that isn’t going to add dollars to their bank account in the short term. So they prioritize things that believe may do that.
Key word short term.
This is the thing that bugs me about most company development of features and tools etc. they focus on short term gains instead of long term infinite strategies. Which are fixing the quality of life that your main consumer/user base is telling you to fix and focus on. Not what you feel you should do as a company to compete with other companies.
It’s a valid gripe but we don’t have visibility to how important that short term profit might be. Sometimes winning comes down to being able to play the game tomorrow and you can’t do that unless you can afford to stay in business one more day.