2 days Ago By AJ Dellinger
Hey, remember the TikTok ban? It’s still a thing (in theory) and the latest deadline is closing in, so other social media platforms are gearing up to try to grab the attention of those addicted to the infinite scroll. Substack is the latest to get in the game, announcing that it is introducing a TikTok-style video feed that creators can use to diversify their content, as first reported by TechCrunch . The latest update to the self-publishing platform will turn the company’s Media tab into a scrollable video feed.
Creators will be able to upload videos up to 10 minutes in length for their subscribers to consume, according to Fast Company . It seems the video content will be available for more than just subscribers and will serve as a discoverability tool, allowing readers to scroll and find new voices from whom they might be interested in hearing more. The secret sauce for TikTok has always been the recommendation algorithm and its ability to show people content that keeps them watching.
Part of its success is that it has a huge user base that regularly uploads content. (How much of that is slop and how much is actually valuable is debatable.) Substack is working with a much smaller number of creators, though it is increasingly getting writers into multimedia.
The company claims 82% of its top-earning writers are using multimedia tools, per TechCrunch , a solid uptick from about 50% last April. It seems Substack might prefer the narrower base of content creators, too. Earlier this year, CEO Chris Best announced a $25,000 “TikTok Liberation Prize” that he said would be awarded to a creator who manages to drive users from TikTok to Substack.
According to Best, the goal of the prize was to “rescue the smart people from TikTok,” which probably only sounds about half as pretentious as it actually is. Still, the move makes Substack another potential landing destination should TikTok actually get shut down for good. You might remember that TikTok was temporarily banned earlier this year before Donald Trump delayed the block , giving parent ByteDance extra time to divest its ownership over the platform.
That whole ordeal has kinda gotten lost in the flurry of everything else the administration has been up to, but the extension deadline is nigh: the 75-day sale period will expire on April 5. While some potential buyers like Mr. Beast have expressed interest, it doesn’t seem like a sale is imminent, though Trump insists one will get done .
But that might not matter, as Trump has expressed that he would extend the deadline again if needed. Almost like he’s just making it up as he goes..
