A few weeks ago, I discussed WHY I quit Medium.
But I never really talked about why I’m choosing Substack as my new home for long-form articles.
In this newsletter, I’ll give you 3 reasons why.
1. I Like How They Make The Platform Better All The Time
Substack seems to roll out a slew of new exciting features every month. And when they do roll out new features, unlike Medium, they actually make sense.
I’m looking at you, Mastodon.
For instance, Substack’s new referral system. It allows readers to win rewards for shouting out your newsletter and referring new subscribers to you.
That’s…actually…a really good idea.
Just a few weeks ago they rolled out a feature that allowed readers to “follow” their favorite writers. That move was a little nuts because Substack has historically been more of a newsletter-only platform rather than a social media platform where you can find and follow friends/writers.
Personally, I like it.
In April they rolled out “Notes,” which is basically just the ability to “tweet” shorter-form content on the platform.
For me, Substack simply comes out with better features than Medium does. Their moves make SENSE and their features aim to help creators grow instead of feel like they’re further and further from the “cool kids club.”
Which takes me to point #2.
2. Substack Will Overtake Medium In The Future
Under my “Why I quit Medium” article, Amanda Claypool posted this in response:
“Substack isn't proving to be a much better solution. At least Medium compensates me, albeit a paltry sum. I only get compensated here on Substack if people subscribe. There's friction in asking people to do that. The people who are getting the paid subscribers here are the established journalists, politicians, and influencers that are being promoted on Medium. Its two sides of the same coin. Substack isn't really a better solution unless you bring an audience over from a different platform.”
I kind of agree with Amanda here, actually.
I do still think there’s value in writing on Medium and in terms of making money, it’s way easier to just lock a story, pray to get boosted, and watch the mullah come in if you do.
Also, it’s STILL easier to get discovered on Medium than Substack, in my opinion. I know, it might be blasphemous to say that, but it’s true.
That’s why Substack, I think, is building in more traditional “social media” features like the ability to post “notes” and the ability to follow your favorite writers.
But if you agree with me on my first point above, who’s to say that Substack won’t eventually overtake Medium in the next 12 months?
Who’s to say we won’t get more and more incredible features from an already red-hot Substack team who can’t seem to miss right now?
If you asked me to bet on which of these two platforms would come out with better features in the next 12 months, I’m picking Substack ALL DAY EVERY DAY.
And who knows, maybe Substack has plans to roll out new monetization features in the future that look a little bit like what Medium is doing.
3. Substack Has All The Momentum
In late 2020, a friend of mine who also wrote on Medium told me that “Substack is eating Medium’s lunch.”
I remember that because I didn’t really believe it.
Like, how can a platform that doesn’t have great discoverability be a better option than Medium, which is currently still a great place to find new audiences?
I should’ve listened, though.
We all know what happened since 2020.
Medium continued its decline into obscurity while Substack packed on revenue and subscribers.
Sacra shared this graph in a recent article that shows you just how well Substack did.
They estimate that Substack made $19,000,000 in 2022 off of 35 million subscribers, and 2 million paid subscribers.
To compare these numbers with Medium, Axios stated that Medium had 725,000 paid subscribers in 2021.
I bet that number fell off a cliff, and apparently Medium’s subscribers counts ARE growing, but I’m willing to bet basically everything I have that Medium’s nowhere near Substack is in terms of paid subscribers right now.
TLDR: Substack won.
Substack has all the momentum, a proven track record of growth, and they’re unveiling new features all the time that make it easier to get “discovered” on this platform.
I guess what it comes down to is this:
I trust Substack’s leadership team more than Medium’s.
It’s true that Medium has a solid base of readers and writers, but that’s because it was actually a good platform from 2016 - 2020.
Since 2020, they’ve hit a downturn that’s been all but impossible to pull up from.
Many writers and readers left, but some stayed through the B.S. because, frankly, where else could they go? And that’s what their base is now. The same readers that have always been there.
The remnants of a once great blogging empire.
And why did the empire fracture? Bad leadership. Bad decision-making. A poor vision for the future of the platform that didn’t pan out.
And I’m seeing more of all that since Tony Stubblebine took over. I mean, Mastodon instances? What was that all about?
Medium’s dying right in front of us.
Substack, though, seems to come out with great new features that make a ton of sense.
Pub Recommendations
Pub Referrals
Notes
The “Explore” tab
Follow buttons for authors
I’m excited to see what other features they roll out next.
I just trust Substack more.
It’s as simple as that.
The thing that jumped out to me here was Substacks's income divided by paid subscribers. That means the average sub is $8.50.
So Substack has both more paid subscribers, and people willing to pay more than $5/month.
This leads me to believe the type of reader you get on Substack is "better" than a follower on Medium.
Oh, the Mastodon/Medium thing... A lesson in how to lead a once great platform into obscurity.