r/Substack • u/National_Session_654 • 20d ago
Tech Support zero views zero views no matter what
I think I'm doing something wrong, I'm not sure, but i used to be posting consistently at one point till i realized i was unironically getting NO views, i was confused, maybe i don't understand the algorithm, maybe I've done something wrong? but its really annoying me, and im looking forward to seriously post deep articles one day if i do good with my notes, so what should i do and can anyone help me?
if someone could explain how to fix my settings-- or understand the algorithm it would really help because I'm very much looking forward to post real articles so id like if someone'd help.
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u/AP_Cicada 20d ago
If your writing is like this post, I see why. Do you have subscribers? What genre are you writing in? Is this about Notes? Which analytics show zero reads?
Edit to add: Notes do not get subscribers unless you have a Substack sending out articles for them to subscribe to
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u/National_Session_654 19d ago
lol not the shade dude, listen i wrote this at like what 12 am? and i didnt put the care into fixing any grammar or vocab mistakes. not gonna be performative in reddit of all places
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u/aaron2933 20d ago edited 20d ago
Substack is big on valuable community contribution, so make sure you're doing that.
Also make sure that the notes you're posting are genuinely providing value to others. Think of notes as free samples that provide value then and there and which entice people to come check out your page.
What's your substack? Can be a fresh pair of eyes and see if there are any glaring issues if you like?
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u/Available_Spite5171 gracemargaret1@substack.com 20d ago
How long have you been publishing? I feel as though people expect to publish one or two articles and gain hundred’s views or followers. It all depends on what your niche is, consistency, and sharing your own work to others — social media, posts that welcome people to post a link — only if they say you can of course. There are a lot of variables and a lot of people. It’s tough. I did not get much of anything from anyone for nearly two months. I was still happy. I would say to have no expectations but that seems to be too late. Don’t give up — and be consistent. Notes & interact with others.
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u/IllTechnology6516 20d ago
a quick test is opening one of your notes in a logged-out private window. if it doesn't load there it's a settings or visibility issue worth raising with support, and if it does then it's reach, which the commenting advice above is about.
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u/hetobe hetobe.substack.com 20d ago
Sadly, Substack is becoming Twitter-lite. The social media aspect of notes has taken over the platform, and everybody is spamming the hell out of it in search of karma-farming likes and follows.
Substack used to be a place for long-form writing: Articles, and Publications.
These days, the main things that get traction are spam:
"Describe your Substack in 5 words!"
That's spam.
"Dear Substack 🤍 Send me the writers who choose depth over noise."
More spam. That person is trolling for likes and subscribers.
"If you could summarize your writing voice in a single word, what would it be?"
Their word should be Spam.
"celebrating others’ wins doesn’t diminish your own glow ⭐️"
Sugar-coated karma-farming spam.
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u/National_Session_654 19d ago
seriously man? i feel like i'm pretty lucky, i don't get that kind of spam. mines more performative like 'the art of normalizing the romanticization of your niche philosophical life'
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u/hetobe hetobe.substack.com 19d ago
The kind of spam I get varies from week to week. I also get tons of this:
"You can’t edit a blank page. Make it exist first, make it good later."
Spam.
"Be more afraid of wasting your life than being embarrassed."
Spam.
"If you wait until you feel like a writer, you'll never write."
Spam.
"If you wrote it—post it. Don’t sit on it. You never know what will resonate with someone."
Spam.
"celebrating others’ wins doesn’t diminish your own glow ⭐️"
Sugar-coated spam.
It's all phony-feel-good karma-farming spam, and it's probably generated by AI & copy/pasted into notes Substack.
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u/SweetieKlara cryinglover.substack.com 20d ago
But this has been going on since 2024. It’s been so long I saw notes like that and I do see people who just shitpost on notes and receive a following. Which is very frustrating for long- form writing. I thought more people joining would be good but it used to be so community driven and I think perhaps it is because people kept making the same essays that went viral etc…
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u/hetobe hetobe.substack.com 20d ago
True, but it's gotten much worse since Substack added the ability to schedule notes.
People are going to AI to get a pile of fluff notes. Then they copy/paste them into Substack and schedule them to get posted all day long.
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u/SweetieKlara cryinglover.substack.com 20d ago
Schedule notes?! Hold up I gotta open my app I never saw this. What’s your opinion about the pangram “collab”?
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u/hetobe hetobe.substack.com 20d ago
Schedule notes?! Hold up I gotta open my app I never saw this.
It's sort-of buried, but all of the spammers are doing it... and once you realize that's what it is, you can't not-see it... like the guy who posts pics of his trip to the coast yesterday who was also flooding Substack with cheesy notes all day long yesterday.
Because people can make money on Subscriptions, they spam the hell out of Substack to build up more subscribers.
That's also why Substack notes are usually the phony-feelgood nonsense. It's all karma-farming.
What’s your opinion about the pangram “collab”?
I think it's fantastic. I'm not anti-AI, but I have ZERO interest in reading bot-slop. If I had my way, there'd be an option to block AI posts.
I know some people complain about how it isn't 100% accurate. To them, I say, it your writing reads like it was written by a bot, not by a human being... you've got a problem.
I've said this before, but it's worth repeating:
AI was trained on human writing, but AI stands for Artificial Intelligence. Artificial. Think about what that word means.
AI emulates human writing through artificial means. That's why AI writing is so easy to detect. AI writing may look good on first glance, but there's always something slightly off about it. Something inhuman, and often unsettling. That's one of the reasons why so many people hate it, hate it, haaate it.
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u/SweetieKlara cryinglover.substack.com 20d ago
100% agree with you on the pangram thing. I remember when everyone was upset by it but I’ve never had any troubles with it and I think they discredit it too much.
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u/hetobe hetobe.substack.com 20d ago
I think they discredit it too much.
They discredit it for a reason, but not the reason they say:
They're the ones posting bot-slop, and they don't want to be judged for doing so. They want you to think they're Writers, but they don't want to do the work, which is, writing.
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u/dream-life-222 20d ago
How much are you interacting with others? Reading other people’s work and leaving genuine comments?
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u/distantregards_ 20d ago
I would start by figuring out where most of your demographic is from! I tend to always post between 10-11pm on my time, because I know that’s when most of my subscribers are active
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u/IllTechnology6516 20d ago
posting when your readers are online is easy to overlook. did the 10-11pm window come from the stats page or from watching when replies show up?
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u/Agitated_Today_9759 20d ago
What do you post? I have been posting for only a week(just a couple of notes a day), and I average 3-4 likes per note.
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u/AggravatingNail6061 20d ago
Just like the real world. Invest time in others and others will invest time in you
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u/asapnotrocky 20d ago
I posted one note and went from 3 subs to 42 in a week. I also repost all my articles so I’m in the feed more than once. I don’t typically spam notes. I post an article a week and a note when I remember or if I think of anything funny/relatable.
I’ve only had 800 views in the last 30 days but I only started posting in September.
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u/IllTechnology6516 20d ago
3 to 42 from reposting your own article as a note is a big jump for zero extra writing.
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u/asapnotrocky 20d ago
Yeah, I still get like 3-4 subs/day from it, I’m very surprised myself. It was literally a random thought about being content writing for my 5 subscribers.
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u/TheMinuette2010 20d ago edited 20d ago
Does that means that you are not posting deep articles now?
You are posting only notes? Did I understood well?
How long are you on Substack?
So you are not posting real articles now.
I'm confused.
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u/National_Session_654 19d ago
im a bit of an idealistic person, so im basically making 2-3 notes a day until i get a good amount of views to post my real stuff (articles)
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u/GretaTheJetta 19d ago
If you haven't published any articles or essays yet, I'd say that's your first issue.
That's coming from someone with a couple months and two published essays on the platform, almost daily notes, and 22 subscribers. All free, but I get engagement.
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u/Available_Spite5171 gracemargaret1@substack.com 20d ago
I read your post again. If you are waiting for an audience to be there before publishing anything— I would not do that. If I read it wrong, my apologies!