Substack Notes

Notes is a new space where writers can publish short-form posts and share ideas with each other and their readers. Through Notes, writers and readers can recommend posts, links, images, and quotes, leave comments, and more.

In Substack, Notes are a great way for writers to share short-form content between posts and reach new audiences. Unlike ad-based social media, Substack runs on paid subscriptions, so writers are rewarded for respecting their audience's trust and attention. By using Notes, writers can attract potential subscribers who might come across their profile through a reply or a "restacked" post. Substack writers own their email lists and can export subscribers' emails anytime they want. The ultimate goal is to convert casual readers into paying subscribers.

Notes provide writers and readers with the ability to recommend a wide range of content, such as posts, quotes, comments, images, and links. By recommending the writing and ideas they love, writers can help everyone grow. In Notes, writers can write short-form posts, restack posts they enjoyed, promote recent posts by sharing a quote, tag a writer they admire to start a conversation, or reply to the notes they find most interesting. Notes are designed to be a natural extension of writers' Substacks, bringing the conversation around their writing and ideas to a centralized platform

How is it different from social media?

Although Notes may resemble social media feeds, the significant difference lies in what is not visible. Substack operates on paid subscriptions rather than advertisements, making it social media with a heart transplant. The lifeblood of ad-based social media is attention, while a subscription-based network's lifeblood is the money paid to people for their valuable work. In traditional social networks, platform owners receive most financial rewards. However, on Substack, the creators of the content receive a significant portion of the financial rewards (an average of 86%).