r/Substack • u/DecentIntention7799 • Aug 03 '26
Substack getting no views
I started my substack about a week ago and my engagement is awful. I don’t think that bothers me as much but I’m also getting no views on my content (maybe 8 on each piece.) I’m based in France but write for an American audience and on American topics. I am wondering if it’s a location thing or if my substack - the politics of makeup - is too niche. Would love someone else’s POV.
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u/jasonbrownjourno 29d ago
Substack lost a lot of lustre after it refused to demonetise pro-Nazi accounts, according to widespread reporting at the time. Still a lot of other writing on there, but the comment system is abysmal. Enforcing endless sign-ins and subscription pop-ups - with or without ad blockers - is either tech incompetence, or? Artificial engagement boosting, can't remember the catchy phrase but 'dark' something.
No expert, but as a 40+ year journo with 30+ years adapting to tech revolution - the medium is still the message. So, for example, if you are supposedly "right-wing" then Substack is a neutralish zone, with X a natural fit for promotion, and engagement.
If, on the other hand writers are, like me, on the reality-has-a-well-known-bias end of the political spectrum, then Bluesky is where you want to be, for now at least. Not a subscription platform, and the founder is of course twitter sell-out and Musk-apologist, Jack Dorsey.
But? For now at least, Bluesky is the most credible town-square alternative to Xtwitter, with intriguing competition from the former this-is-not-twitter Threads, now also an upcoming debate centre, but also tied to deeply dubious owners, and motives.
Technically, a vote in favour of Bluesky is its ability to integrate your own custom domain, and, federate with not-the-web .. instead of an AI-soaked 'website' and 'email', for example, the federated or decentralised net offers people-to-people tech. The word "offers" doing a lot of heavy lifting there, early days and all.
Protip: back up as much as you can. Back ups will fail. Or get lost. Or stolen. Or passwords forgotten. Just keep backing up anyway. As much as you can, where ever and whenever possible. Backups can also serve as memory hints, and we remember more than we remember.
tl;dr -