It’s official: Everyone can use Substack Notes now.
Anyone with a Substack account may now easily share links, images, thoughts, and excerpts from their posts thanks to a new sharing function. It’s very similar to your Twitter homepage, except with a lot more newsletters and less Elon Musk.
“Notes also marks the next step in our efforts to build our subscription network — one that puts writers and readers in charge, rewards great work with money, and protects the free press and free speech,” Substack noted in a blog post. “This work is at the core of the Substack model, and we believe it will be an important part of a new economic engine for culture.”
This occurs during the most ridiculous online debate ever. The day after Substack introduced its new Notes feature, Twitter began restricting likes, retweets, and comments on tweets that include a link to a Substack newsletter and prohibited Substack writers from embedding tweets in their newsletters.
In his Substack newsletter Platformer, tech reporter Casey Newton wrote, “Musk’s chaotic overreaction to the mere development of Notes served to elevate an unreleased feature, overnight, onto an even footing with one of the most import social feeds in the world.” I had this article “restacked” onto my Substack Notes feed. When Substack releases Notes to the public, there will undoubtedly be a heightened level of interest in the product.
Concluding
Substack Notes is unlikely to overtake Twitter because it is focused on writers while Twitter has a much wider user base. While Musk may have intended for this conflict to weaken Substack Notes, it appears to be having the opposite effect. Twitter isn’t trying to get its users and Substack authors to utilize Twitter’s newsletter platform; rather, it’s welcoming those authors into the arms of Substack.
