Do we need Substack Notes?

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this new social media platform

Image courtesy of Substack

I'm sure by now you've heard all the buzz about Substack Notes. I mentioned it briefly in a recent story about how Substack may be in trouble.

It makes total sense that Substack would want to add a feature like Notes. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, it looks a whole lot like Twitter. Except Substack isn't relying on an algorithm to push certain posts to the top. It's meant to just be a chronological assortment of snippets from around the Substack universe. Substack even uses this cheeky tagline:

“Pass notes with your favorite writers”.

Hmmm, it’s been a while since anyone has passed a physical note in a classroom. And while I’d like to think there is a strong bond between Substack writer and reader, notes were really only being passed between very close friends am I right? OK, let’s move on from the questionable marketing copy. The effort by the Substack copywriters has been duly…noted.

What is it?

Many of you follow plenty of Substack publications aside from this one. You've likely seen posts by some of your other favorite writers on Notes. I've been keeping a close eye on Notes and trying to figure out how it fits into my publication.

Image courtesy of Substack Notes

Honestly, I feel a bit conflicted about it. I made several initial posts that I ended up discarding. It's kinda like showing up at an awkward party and not knowing what to say. I can see the value in posting on Notes. And I see some posts from authors that I really admire and respect. But I can't help but feel like I'm not the only one who has this apprehensive feeling about jumping into Notes full-on.

It makes me recall the early days of Twitter. Yeah, I remember when Twitter was mostly made up of just my nerdy San Francisco friends before it gained more widespread adoption. It felt really similar to Notes right now. A lot of awkward conversations with people who were excited about the platform but not really sure how to use it yet.

Early twitter was really something

The awkward early days

Every media platform goes through this awkward early phase. I guess what makes Substack Notes different is that it's a strange child of both Twitter and Substack. A vast majority of its users are writers who should be pretty comfortable sharing their ideas through words. But they're also attempting to abide by many of the existing rules and etiquette that have been formed by over a decade of Twitter usage.

And personally, I'm not sure where I fit in with it. I think I stopped using Twitter in maybe 2015 or 2016. I was never prolific, but I did see the value of it and enjoyed using it for its first few years of existence. Then I just felt like I hit a point of saturation. I just didn't care that much about what other people were doing and I wasn't compelled to share that much about myself. These were the same reasons why I abandoned Facebook and never tried Instagram or any other subsequent social media platform.

Substack encouraged us to take back our minds, will that happen with Notes?

Substack just felt like a whole different animal when I first started using it. It certainly felt more like Wordpress or Mailchimp than Twitter. I don’t think I ever would have predicted a feature like notes back in 2020. Substack lets me share my thoughts in a more long-form way with an audience that is hopefully more engaged, receptive, and intimate. I didn't start this publication with grand ambitions. I don't want to create a media empire. I just want a place to share my thoughts, learnings, and opinions with people who appreciate them.

Over the last two years, I've committed to the habit of writing and built a portfolio of work that I'm really proud of. And I haven't done much to share it on social media. It's mostly just grown organically and through the efforts of the Substack product. I do appreciate all of the work the Substack team has done to make publications organically more “findable”. But they’re walking a fine line between giving writers useful ways to build an audience and just creating a confusingly bloated social media platform.

How should I use it?

This leads me back to my use of Substack Notes. I can see how it may be the perfect pseudo-social media platform for someone like me. It's essentially all about expanding the sentiment that I'm already cultivating in these posts. Why not share smaller snippets with a wider audience?

It may still feel a bit uncomfortable right now, but I'm open to giving it a chance. I can't fault the Substack team for trying out new things to help grow their business. Sadly, they couldn't just sit idly by resting on their laurels as the tiny little newsletter platform. Silicon Valley doesn't usually work that way. You need to grow, find new revenue streams, etc. Substack Notes did come along at an opportune time when many are fed up with Twitter and not yet fully sold on new alternatives like Mastodon or Hive.

So thank you for listening to me talk through my feelings about Substack Notes. I wasn't really in the market for a new social media network, but I'm keeping an open mind. I'm getting the feeling that Substack writers who don't make an effort to use Notes will sorely regret it in a few months. I don't necessarily think that Notes will be a runaway success on its own, but I do think it will be an almost essential part of offering a compelling Substack experience for subscribers.

Have you been using Substack Notes? Any suggestions on how I should use the feature?

And if you’re still a bit confused about what Notes is or how to use it (trust me, you’re not alone!) I’ll leave you with a canned template from Substack on how to explain Notes to my audience: And to be even more meta, I think my first note will be to promote this post about notes…

I just published my first note on Substack Notes, and would love for you to join me there!

Notes is a new space on Substack for us to share links, short posts, quotes, photos, and more. I plan to use it for things that don’t fit in the newsletter, like work-in-progress or quick questions.

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How to join

Head to substack.com/notes or find the “Notes” tab in the Substack app. As a subscriber to Iterate, you’ll automatically see my notes. Feel free to like, reply, or share them around!

You can also share notes of your own. I hope this becomes a space where every reader of Iterate can share thoughts, ideas, and interesting quotes from the things we're reading on Substack and beyond.

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If you encounter any issues, you can always refer to the Notes FAQ for assistance. Looking forward to seeing you there!

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Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!

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