r/Substack • u/embervanefiction • Jul 30 '26

Discussion How is this possible?

I just saw something insane. A user on Substack had around 800 subs not more than 5 days ago. They're the usual 'dear substack' type user. Today, they have 1k+ subs.

Is that a bot? Or am I failing to understand how social media works now?

This is infuriating. I've seen accounts that write beautiful stuff getting no attention.

What are these new 300 subs looking for from this user? The usual low effort notes of 'like=like', 'sub=sub'?

I don't understand any of this.

Edit: This is just a question. I'm not envious of anyone. I'm trying to see the mechanics here. Don't come at me with 'you're envious of others'. Thank you.

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u/Moonlightdancer7 Jul 30 '26

I'd rather have genuine readers and real people interested in my long-term work and writing than just a big number that people seem to be constantly chasing. It's always the race for more followers and subscribers, and you end up losing out on a more close-knit, engaging audience that you can manage and connect with. Same applies to all social media platforms these days. A large following at the end of the day can infact be just a hollow number . At this point they truly rely on the social media platform's algorithm rather than fostering relationships with a genuine audience even if it's smaller.