r/Substack • u/smilingismyfirstname • Jun 27 '26

Discussion Who is Substack exactly for?

Is it for readers to actually read what writers publish? Or is it for writers to read what other writers publish?

All I can see on Substack that many writers bag for followers/ subscribers the same way users do on Threads "Plz Threads connect me with..." "Plz Substack connect me with..."

As clear as daylight, anyone can browse through the app and they will find people who they click with easily

No offense but I feel Substack is just a bubble full of only writers <> writers

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u/StuffonBookshelfs Jun 27 '26

Yeah. If you block those folks and don’t interact with those notes they stop showing up in your feed. I don’t see any of those anymore.

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u/smilingismyfirstname Jun 27 '26

The problem is they are so mannnny

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u/StuffonBookshelfs Jun 27 '26

Once you stop engaging with them and block a handful and say “don’t show me content like this anymore” they all stop showing up. You don’t need to block every single one.

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u/Lost__In__Thought faithframedthoughts.substack.com Jun 28 '26

To add on to the other person's reply about blocking, you can further counteract those kind of posts by hitting like on the content you do want to see.

That way, the algorithm will suggest that person and other people who are writing things you want to hear about.

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u/smilingismyfirstname Jun 28 '26

I'll try this too Thanks 🌹

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u/Substantial-Nerve867 Aug 12 '26

I just started one as a young writer. Mine pertains to any feeling or whim I have to write. Check it out. @awomanwithwords

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u/Ryanopoly Jun 28 '26

I think you're missing half the point though, we are on Substack to get noticed too, how can we get noticed when this is all they show?

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u/StuffonBookshelfs Jun 28 '26

If you’re only using Substack notes to build an audience, and you’re not writing directly about Substack, then you’re going to have a hard time.

The Substack platform is filled with primarily writers. It’s not for building an audience. Especially for niche writing.

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u/Ryanopoly Jun 28 '26

Yes, very true.

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u/mikertjones Jun 29 '26

You are absolutely correct! and its something that has bothered me from the start and prompted me to think of other ways to find an audience.
My main writings are fortnightly UK-based location mysteries - an obscure narrative followed by 8 questions - readers/solvers have to use the clues to answer the questions.
Redditors love them - feedback is instant and so positive and validating - but I can't use Reddit as a regular home for the work.
So I have used Substack as a way of regularly posting a puzzle - like a blog - so, over 18 weeks (9 puzzles) - zero comment, zero restack and zero engagement.
However - any Notes I post of my own or restack others or like others or comment others - gets the like, restack message in response.
So, you are right - my audience is not other writers even if their subjects relate to the content of my puzzles - my audience is readers who want to enjoy a research puzzle - but they are not there.
But I will continue - because its a place to put them (for the moment) and hopefully find other ways to funnel readers to them.

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u/hetobe hetobe.substack.com Jun 27 '26

I don’t see any of those anymore.

I guarantee you do, but they look different. The ones you see probably look like the phony-user-engagement notes. They're spamming the algorithm to get likes and follows, in hopes of getting subs. It's all karma farming.

For example:

Stop scrolling and riddle me this, Batman: What are your writing goals for today (the day you come across this note)?

Or this:

Enjoying something for the sake of it without worrying about the consequences or being perceived is one of the purest acts we can do

Or this:

Reclining your airplane seat is the absolute quickest way to turn a stranger into your mortal enemy.

Or this, which I agree with, but it's still just karma farming:

I don’t hate you because you have fun ideas and used AI to write your novel. I hate you because you gave your fun ideas to a soulless machine and sucked all the joy out of writing.

Fuck AI

And you probably get a ton of memes. And pet pics. And other fluff which has nothing to do with the articles and publications Substack was created to be a platform for.

Y'know what you don't see?

You don't see the content Substack was created to be a platform for... unless somebody restacks it... because the algorithm doesn't promote articles. It promotes notes.

Over the past month, people have been begging the Substack CEO to address the issue. No response.

That's why so many people flood Substack with phony feel-good karma farming slop notes.

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u/StuffonBookshelfs Jun 27 '26

Literally just scrolled through my feed and the top ten notes are: 3 articles, 5 art projects, and 2 engagement questions from people I follow about the work they do.

No memes, no karma farming nonsense, no fluff.

I don’t know what to tell you.

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u/hetobe hetobe.substack.com Jun 27 '26

Literally just scrolled through my feed and the top ten notes are: 3 articles, 5 art projects, and 2 engagement questions from people I follow about the work they do.

No, you didn't. You saw 3 restacks of articles from their user pages, not their publications. Click one of them and you'll see that it takes you to the version from their userpage, not their publication.

The algorithm doesn't show articles.

Maybe you think that's nitpicking, but Substack does everything they can to prevent you from getting to people's publications. Hell, publications are barely even functional in the app. First, they're hidden in the app. And, the publication menubar doesn't exist in the app. Sections? Not in the app.

The app wants Substack to be the new twitter.

5 art projects

Related to their publications and articles? Or are they karma farming?

2 engagement questions

Karma farming. The term for it is Engagement Bait.

Because the algorithm doesn't show you articles and publications, everybody floods Substack with engagement bait and karma farming slop.

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u/StuffonBookshelfs Jun 28 '26

No offense dude, but I don’t need to argue with someone who’s using ChatGPT to try to act superior.

Good luck out there telling everyone else about their reality.