Yes, either a tip jar or small, set price. I've seen a lot of people suggesting this across the platform. I would love it, too, because the cost of multiple subscriptions is keeping me from reading really interesting work. Making it an option would seem to increase the revenue streams of all writers.
That tiping option, and almost everything Ted mentioned here is possible on the Fediverse:
Ghost (for publishing/newsletters), PeerTube (for video), Funkwhale (for music/audio), Pixelfed (for images), and other Fediverse tools — you can have it without VC investor scum like Mark Andreessen, proprietary lock-in, or the risk of “pivot and betray” that centralized platforms almost always deliver once the growth-at-all-costs phase ends.
1. Music platform (Substack + Bandcamp + Spotify)
Already happening with Funkwhale (self-hosted or community-run) and Bandcamp integration into Ghost sites. You could post music, playlists, and writing all in one place without worrying about whether a corporate algorithm buries it later.
2. YouTube alternative for original work
That’s what PeerTube does: decentralized, no algorithmic junk, and each creator or community can host their own instance while still being discoverable across the network.
3. Focused Netflix-like indie film stream
PeerTube + curated collections = already doable today. Curation is a social problem, not a tech one, and you don’t need $100M in VC to solve it.
4. Better Notes algorithm prioritizing original work
In the Fediverse, you control your feed. Reverse chronological order is standard, and you can filter by following only people who post original work.
5. Groups & collective homepages with shared subscriptions
Ghost supports multi-author publications right now, and you can pool together in co-ops. No need to wait for a feature request in a proprietary system.
6. More monetization tools
Ghost already lets you set up paid tiers, member-only posts, and integrate payment processors directly without a middleman.
7. Use as a personal website
Ghost is literally a CMS + newsletter tool — it’s your full personal site, portfolio, and archive in one.
8. More formats, fonts, and layouts
Ghost themes are fully customizable. The coding is a bit of a pain in the ass, though.
9. Readers embedding images in comments
Possible with open-source comment systems (like Remark42 or Commento) that you can plug into Ghost.
10. Bookmark Notes and posts
The Fediverse already has bookmarking and “favourites” baked in.
11. True chronological feeds and strong search
Standard in the Fediverse.
12. Alternative media awards
→ This one’s social/cultural, but the Fediverse could easily host its own awards without corporate gatekeepers.
completely agree that substack will inevitably turn to shit down the line. this infrastructure sounds awesome (minus the horrible names like funkwhale)!
why do people not use it though? it seems too early, too clunky still. i personally have about 10 newsletters on substack and 2 on ghost that i want to read. and i just forget about the ghost ones all the time, because i enjoy the streamlined experience on the platform here. (yes i tried all the rss readers there exist)
I hope the future will make these tools you mentioned a smooth unified experience.
Do you have a newsletter on Ghost as well? When you have a newsletter, they now have a Network tab with "Notes" and "Reader" section which is very similar to Substack, and makes it easier to stay on top of newsletters.
And yeah, I have no idea why they landed on Funkwhale haha.
Agreed, all of the stuff that is on this wish list already exists. No need to make Substack a 'one size fits all' product. If only to reduce the risk of enshittification.
Embedding content from other (Fediverse) places would be a better option then reinventing the wheel imo.
Other music options could be: Bandwagon, Mirlo and AmpWall.
That's a good idea. I'm thinking/planning to release my book on Substack in serial form – free, but ask politely for a donation. Not so sure on the how-to.
From my perspective, the biggest wishlist item would be bundling. Right now, I pay for about five different Substacks, but there are many more writers I’d like to sample without committing to a full subscription, especially for content I’d read less often. I get that Substack’s model is built around a direct writer <> reader relationship, but a bundle option (maybe a credit system where you could unlock a set number of paywalled posts each month) could make it easier to explore new writers while still compensating them.
I particularly would like the ability to buy a number of articles per month for a set price to use on one-off articles of interest ($5 for 5? $15 for 10? Something like that.) It might seem sub optimal for authors, but equally it might a give readers a way to determine whether a full blown subscription would be worthwhile.
Alternatively, giving authors the ability to allow such one-off purchases of articles at whatever price they think is appropriate, so they can make that risk/reward determination.
And, if necessary to further protect authors, maybe an author-determined limit on the number of one-off articles read by any individual.
This model already exists on Medium. It’s great for readers, but awful for writers. People like Ted will be fine; a lot of the other writers you love to read will disappear.
Yeah, the problem is the most successful writers don’t have much incentive to opt into this, which obviously degrade the value prop of a bundle like this in the first place.
I don’t know what the solution is (if one even exists) but something that would allow for snacking without a full subscription would be great.
Substack has been a boon for many great writers, but I fear it's already in its enshittification stage. Dark patterns to boost subscriber numbers, social features available only within the walled garden of the app, and of course this: https://theracket.news/p/substack-s-extremist-ecosystem-is-flourishing. Management's ties to proven cultural arsonists Musk, Tiel and a16z are not encouraging.
Seconded. Hosting extremist content is one thing — I am unsure if outright censorship is the solution — but seeing Substack actively promote some of this extremist content is distressing (such as promoting Daryl Cooper in an official post). That alone has made me decide against making a Substack and instead opt for a personal site. Artists, like myself, do not want to be on a platform associated with bigotry, so if Substack wants to keep courting them, they should be far more careful about what communities get cultivated and promoted on the site.
This is one reason why I am thinking of deleting my Substack account and migrating to beehiv, like The Racket by Jonathan Katz. I will still read certain Substack authors like Ted and Robert Gilbert and others.
Hi Ted, I have a single beef with Substack. This is something you might actually have some sway in influencing, if you agree. I have a paid subscription to about 5 different creatives, including yours. I also have about 4 free subscriptions. When I receive a new post from a free subscription, many times it says you can read this post for free in the Substack app. I've never followed this recommendation, and won't read the post. Now, its fine for a creative's free subscription tier to have a paywall on their content, they need to make a living. But there is absolutely no reason for Substack to force a user to use the app, EXCEPT that they want to siphon off more data from the user than they can get from a web page. While I find Substack valuable (your presence is a shining example of this), I don't want to give another business an iota more data about me than I have to, or have my info sold to databrokers. And the type of data a business gets from an app is very opaque to both the user, and you as a creative. After all, wasn't part of the founding principles of Substack to make revenue from subscriptions, not from selling user data? End of rant :)
Hear hear! Fuck that app, i say! Its another inertia suck hole, like all the others.
The other reason they want you to use the app is to expose you to the algorithm feed. They know how addictive that shit is, and thats why thryre plugging it.
If there is one element I would like to see added, it's some type of local option, where I can see local substackers in my area as a way to network and help build audience together. I am sure there are some massive drawbacks to this (Lord knows we don't need to create another NextDoor), but there could be value here.
Per post payment system. Pay $50/mo to be spread across people you don’t subscribe to, or have the option for creators to have a per post option on certain posts. I can subscribe to everyone I’d like to. Maybe you have to have three paid subscriptions already to access this feature.
One of the problems of Substack is there are so many great writers. But if you pay for 50 Substacks at $50-100 a year it is unaffordable. Would be great a get a bundle. Not sure how this would work. Maybe access to X number of paid postings per year? Now everyone has a Freeium offering. You can pay zero but get limited or $X. A bundle might blow up this model ?
The music service/app would be killer! It should include ways for those who create playlists (like you) to benefit monetarily from the wisdom of your curation.
And here's another suggestion: a "read it later" function like the recently shuttered Pocket.
As a reader I like 1,4,9,10…and also support ways writers can increase monetizing. But as a reader, it’s getting really expensive and more ch as I want to expand my Substack exposure, I’m starting to cancel subscriptions which are less interesting..
I thought #4 would be about the fact that the Notes "algorithm"--to whatever extent there is one--doesn't even work. I see the same five or six posts over and over again, so I just stop reading. I know a lot of people love it, and I'll admit that kind of baffles me, because seeing the same posts over and over for DAYS is useless. Make Notes work or get rid of it.
I find it difficult to locate posts that are well written and which interest me. Is there some forum of reviewers that could help readers find what they truly enjoy?
#1 intrigues me although I am not a Spotify enthusiast at all. We all need music in our lives and this would be a way to even out the score for creators. While it may be a dreamer's dream, I think it is a great idea! As I am no tech nerd and hold disdain for much of what I encounter online, ONLY music and Substack have any real meaning in my online life. I use books primarily but am open to something GOOD that can be created here. "Better tools" is an exciting opportunity to dream!
Ability to leave a $ tip $ for a open content posted by a provider I can't afford to subscribe to.
Yes, either a tip jar or small, set price. I've seen a lot of people suggesting this across the platform. I would love it, too, because the cost of multiple subscriptions is keeping me from reading really interesting work. Making it an option would seem to increase the revenue streams of all writers.
Yes, let's make it possibile to reward single pieces of writing. Maybe I can't afford 20 subscriptions, but I want to reward a great article.
That tiping option, and almost everything Ted mentioned here is possible on the Fediverse:
Ghost (for publishing/newsletters), PeerTube (for video), Funkwhale (for music/audio), Pixelfed (for images), and other Fediverse tools — you can have it without VC investor scum like Mark Andreessen, proprietary lock-in, or the risk of “pivot and betray” that centralized platforms almost always deliver once the growth-at-all-costs phase ends.
1. Music platform (Substack + Bandcamp + Spotify)
Already happening with Funkwhale (self-hosted or community-run) and Bandcamp integration into Ghost sites. You could post music, playlists, and writing all in one place without worrying about whether a corporate algorithm buries it later.
2. YouTube alternative for original work
That’s what PeerTube does: decentralized, no algorithmic junk, and each creator or community can host their own instance while still being discoverable across the network.
3. Focused Netflix-like indie film stream
PeerTube + curated collections = already doable today. Curation is a social problem, not a tech one, and you don’t need $100M in VC to solve it.
4. Better Notes algorithm prioritizing original work
In the Fediverse, you control your feed. Reverse chronological order is standard, and you can filter by following only people who post original work.
5. Groups & collective homepages with shared subscriptions
Ghost supports multi-author publications right now, and you can pool together in co-ops. No need to wait for a feature request in a proprietary system.
6. More monetization tools
Ghost already lets you set up paid tiers, member-only posts, and integrate payment processors directly without a middleman.
7. Use as a personal website
Ghost is literally a CMS + newsletter tool — it’s your full personal site, portfolio, and archive in one.
8. More formats, fonts, and layouts
Ghost themes are fully customizable. The coding is a bit of a pain in the ass, though.
9. Readers embedding images in comments
Possible with open-source comment systems (like Remark42 or Commento) that you can plug into Ghost.
10. Bookmark Notes and posts
The Fediverse already has bookmarking and “favourites” baked in.
11. True chronological feeds and strong search
Standard in the Fediverse.
12. Alternative media awards
→ This one’s social/cultural, but the Fediverse could easily host its own awards without corporate gatekeepers.
I
completely agree that substack will inevitably turn to shit down the line. this infrastructure sounds awesome (minus the horrible names like funkwhale)!
why do people not use it though? it seems too early, too clunky still. i personally have about 10 newsletters on substack and 2 on ghost that i want to read. and i just forget about the ghost ones all the time, because i enjoy the streamlined experience on the platform here. (yes i tried all the rss readers there exist)
I hope the future will make these tools you mentioned a smooth unified experience.
Do you have a newsletter on Ghost as well? When you have a newsletter, they now have a Network tab with "Notes" and "Reader" section which is very similar to Substack, and makes it easier to stay on top of newsletters.
And yeah, I have no idea why they landed on Funkwhale haha.
Agreed, all of the stuff that is on this wish list already exists. No need to make Substack a 'one size fits all' product. If only to reduce the risk of enshittification.
Embedding content from other (Fediverse) places would be a better option then reinventing the wheel imo.
Other music options could be: Bandwagon, Mirlo and AmpWall.
Video option: Nebula
That's a good idea. I'm thinking/planning to release my book on Substack in serial form – free, but ask politely for a donation. Not so sure on the how-to.
From my perspective, the biggest wishlist item would be bundling. Right now, I pay for about five different Substacks, but there are many more writers I’d like to sample without committing to a full subscription, especially for content I’d read less often. I get that Substack’s model is built around a direct writer <> reader relationship, but a bundle option (maybe a credit system where you could unlock a set number of paywalled posts each month) could make it easier to explore new writers while still compensating them.
I particularly would like the ability to buy a number of articles per month for a set price to use on one-off articles of interest ($5 for 5? $15 for 10? Something like that.) It might seem sub optimal for authors, but equally it might a give readers a way to determine whether a full blown subscription would be worthwhile.
Alternatively, giving authors the ability to allow such one-off purchases of articles at whatever price they think is appropriate, so they can make that risk/reward determination.
And, if necessary to further protect authors, maybe an author-determined limit on the number of one-off articles read by any individual.
Can I leave more than 1 like?
This model already exists on Medium. It’s great for readers, but awful for writers. People like Ted will be fine; a lot of the other writers you love to read will disappear.
Yeah, the problem is the most successful writers don’t have much incentive to opt into this, which obviously degrade the value prop of a bundle like this in the first place.
I don’t know what the solution is (if one even exists) but something that would allow for snacking without a full subscription would be great.
100%
Substack has been a boon for many great writers, but I fear it's already in its enshittification stage. Dark patterns to boost subscriber numbers, social features available only within the walled garden of the app, and of course this: https://theracket.news/p/substack-s-extremist-ecosystem-is-flourishing. Management's ties to proven cultural arsonists Musk, Tiel and a16z are not encouraging.
Seconded. Hosting extremist content is one thing — I am unsure if outright censorship is the solution — but seeing Substack actively promote some of this extremist content is distressing (such as promoting Daryl Cooper in an official post). That alone has made me decide against making a Substack and instead opt for a personal site. Artists, like myself, do not want to be on a platform associated with bigotry, so if Substack wants to keep courting them, they should be far more careful about what communities get cultivated and promoted on the site.
This is one reason why I am thinking of deleting my Substack account and migrating to beehiv, like The Racket by Jonathan Katz. I will still read certain Substack authors like Ted and Robert Gilbert and others.
Thank you for the link and the heads-up. Disappointing, depressing, and disturbing. Unfortunately, not surprising. Money for the win every time.
Yes, this is very concerning.
Hi Ted, I have a single beef with Substack. This is something you might actually have some sway in influencing, if you agree. I have a paid subscription to about 5 different creatives, including yours. I also have about 4 free subscriptions. When I receive a new post from a free subscription, many times it says you can read this post for free in the Substack app. I've never followed this recommendation, and won't read the post. Now, its fine for a creative's free subscription tier to have a paywall on their content, they need to make a living. But there is absolutely no reason for Substack to force a user to use the app, EXCEPT that they want to siphon off more data from the user than they can get from a web page. While I find Substack valuable (your presence is a shining example of this), I don't want to give another business an iota more data about me than I have to, or have my info sold to databrokers. And the type of data a business gets from an app is very opaque to both the user, and you as a creative. After all, wasn't part of the founding principles of Substack to make revenue from subscriptions, not from selling user data? End of rant :)
Hear hear! Fuck that app, i say! Its another inertia suck hole, like all the others.
The other reason they want you to use the app is to expose you to the algorithm feed. They know how addictive that shit is, and thats why thryre plugging it.
Or, thats what i think anyway lol
Self-organizing magazines would be great, also they need to allow per-article sales.
Btw am I the only one annoyed by having to root around in Settings to find the Substacks you’re subscribed to?
I like number 5 because there are many I want to support but being a retiree I have to prioritise 3 or 4.
Removing Nazis. Including the ones running Substack both tolerating AND promoting their content.
Love this idea!
If there is one element I would like to see added, it's some type of local option, where I can see local substackers in my area as a way to network and help build audience together. I am sure there are some massive drawbacks to this (Lord knows we don't need to create another NextDoor), but there could be value here.
The search function should be completely rethought - it is a basic need and a new solution is overdue.
Per post payment system. Pay $50/mo to be spread across people you don’t subscribe to, or have the option for creators to have a per post option on certain posts. I can subscribe to everyone I’d like to. Maybe you have to have three paid subscriptions already to access this feature.
One of the problems of Substack is there are so many great writers. But if you pay for 50 Substacks at $50-100 a year it is unaffordable. Would be great a get a bundle. Not sure how this would work. Maybe access to X number of paid postings per year? Now everyone has a Freeium offering. You can pay zero but get limited or $X. A bundle might blow up this model ?
The music service/app would be killer! It should include ways for those who create playlists (like you) to benefit monetarily from the wisdom of your curation.
And here's another suggestion: a "read it later" function like the recently shuttered Pocket.
YES! Being able to read the app offline would be lovely
As a reader I like 1,4,9,10…and also support ways writers can increase monetizing. But as a reader, it’s getting really expensive and more ch as I want to expand my Substack exposure, I’m starting to cancel subscriptions which are less interesting..
I thought #4 would be about the fact that the Notes "algorithm"--to whatever extent there is one--doesn't even work. I see the same five or six posts over and over again, so I just stop reading. I know a lot of people love it, and I'll admit that kind of baffles me, because seeing the same posts over and over for DAYS is useless. Make Notes work or get rid of it.
ditto this.
I find it difficult to locate posts that are well written and which interest me. Is there some forum of reviewers that could help readers find what they truly enjoy?
#1 intrigues me although I am not a Spotify enthusiast at all. We all need music in our lives and this would be a way to even out the score for creators. While it may be a dreamer's dream, I think it is a great idea! As I am no tech nerd and hold disdain for much of what I encounter online, ONLY music and Substack have any real meaning in my online life. I use books primarily but am open to something GOOD that can be created here. "Better tools" is an exciting opportunity to dream!
I’d opt for no publication and zero tolerance of racist/bigoted/Nazi-like material.
I would instinctively agree, but who decides what that is ?
It's pretty easy to identify Nazis. Start there.