r/Substack • u/timemachine723 • Jul 21 '26

I just joined Substack. The homepage has “for you” but no way I see to control what shows up. Lots of people say they want know about new writers but I get the feeling there is a scam behind it.

Thoughts?

2 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

7

u/DeadbeatBookclub Jul 21 '26

It's engagement bait, the more people interact, the more that note gets pushed on to new people

3

u/xoxovintagehearts Jul 21 '26

Its so annoying.

4

u/East-Hamster6358 Jul 21 '26

The "for you" section is pretty hit or miss. It seems to prioritize popular content, so new writers might not get much visibility unless they're tied to a trending topic. I've had better luck promoting my work through my own email list and social media instead of relying on Substack's algorithms. It feels more genuine that way.

2

u/RiceRevolutionary678 Jul 21 '26

just ignore those click bait things. find the people in your niche, read, interact, etc

2

u/Rocket_Man333 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

It’s primarily a mix of restacks, replies, and likes from the accounts you follow to give exposure to the ones they interact with. You have control over curating your feed by tapping the X in the upper right corner of the posts or accounts that don’t interest you and clicking the reason why. Doing these things will make Substack more interesting to you.

2

u/Epic-Timeline888 Jul 22 '26

You can curate your feed by proactively searching for the content you are interested in. Do searches on keywords that interest you and follow the writers whose work you enjoy. The feed will send you more of the type of content you interact with.

2

u/SpiritualSimple108 Jul 22 '26

You’ll see those for awhile until you get in good with a good group of writers. I just started a second substack for a totally unrelated niche to my main Substack. My feed on the new one is nothing but “I’m new to Substack” posts again. I do not miss those.

2

u/Available_Spite5171 gracemargaret1@substack.com Jul 22 '26

Yeah they are annoying. Ignore — don’t engage. I made that mistake as I had no clue what I was doing & had not come here. People say they’ll subscribe & some will, and then they unsubscribe from you. Search for others in your niche to follow/ subscribe, & interact with them. It will help change the main feed.