2 ms·

I have no idea about how Substack works. Are subscriptions paid to authors and is following for free?

coldtea 3y ago
Subscriptions have free and pair tiers (you get to see more posts, or in some cases, the same, with a paid subscription). Subscription also means you're getting the new posts via email as a newsletter (and the author has your email). Following is just free and you aren't getting an email for each post, you just see a notification in the Substack app/website.
- jprete 3y ago
  If that's really the follow feature that writers are complaining about them I don't see how that matters. Aside from needing an internet connection, the web site is usually the superior way to see the content, and also allows for commenting. Substack doesn't charge more or less to users who choose to get emailed or not.
  - coldtea 3y ago
    >the web site is usually the superior way to see the content Which is irrelevant, Substack was marketed and promoted itself as a newsletter focused service, not as "yet another blogging platform with social media aspirations". Authors were promised to have control of their audience, to even take elsewhere if they wanted to move, as they'd be just email addresses subscribed to them. Everything they've done since (in the last 1-2 years) is to move away from that into a tightly centralized social media platform. >Substack doesn't charge more or less to users who choose to get emailed or not. It makes subscribing optional if you want to follow someone (whereas before it was the only way), which means less newsletter subscribers, which means authors don't get to have their audience: Substack keeps the control. This also means less paid subscribers, even if nominally they can still go out of their way to subscribe and then get a paid tier.
WheatMillington 3y ago
The article did a terrible job of helping me understand the difference between a subscription and a follow.

Subscriptions have free and pair tiers (you get to see more posts, or in some cases, the same, with a paid subscription). Subscription also means you're getting the new posts via email as a newsletter (and the author has your email). Following is just free and you aren't getting an email for each post, you just see a notification in the Substack app/website.

jprete 3y ago
If that's really the follow feature that writers are complaining about them I don't see how that matters. Aside from needing an internet connection, the web site is usually the superior way to see the content, and also allows for commenting. Substack doesn't charge more or less to users who choose to get emailed or not.
- coldtea 3y ago
  >the web site is usually the superior way to see the content Which is irrelevant, Substack was marketed and promoted itself as a newsletter focused service, not as "yet another blogging platform with social media aspirations". Authors were promised to have control of their audience, to even take elsewhere if they wanted to move, as they'd be just email addresses subscribed to them. Everything they've done since (in the last 1-2 years) is to move away from that into a tightly centralized social media platform. >Substack doesn't charge more or less to users who choose to get emailed or not. It makes subscribing optional if you want to follow someone (whereas before it was the only way), which means less newsletter subscribers, which means authors don't get to have their audience: Substack keeps the control. This also means less paid subscribers, even if nominally they can still go out of their way to subscribe and then get a paid tier.

WheatMillington 3y ago

The article did a terrible job of helping me understand the difference between a subscription and a follow.