Thank you! I couldn’t believe how many patterns came out of this survey. And missing the survey is completely understandable, Substack has a way of hiding things right when you need them😂
Your article with Aisha was too good not to mention!
I've been optimizing for long-form posts when most people enter through the social layer first—comments, Notes, micro-interactions. That's where attention actually starts.
Your insight about the 31% needing introduction to community chat resonates hard. Discovery and onboarding is the problem, not engagement. People want to participate but can't find the door.
Really valuable breakdown. The survey approach to understanding your audience instead of assuming—that's the move.
Thanks a ton for putting this together Karo. I suspect your findings represent a micro version of what's happening on the larger Substack community too and it makes perfect sense. But only in highsight :) Of course Substack's a discovery first channel and the Activity tab is the main thingy. Loved reading this. Thank you for sharing the results :)
That "Activity" is the first place many people go to caught me by surprise 😃
Yet, it makes sense - on Sunday I posted about my achievement reaching 100 followers which boomed. So, naturally, every time I opened Substack, I went to Activity to reply to new comments and engage. This generated more engagement, and more comments so I went back to reply...and this became a 2-day endeavor.
Yes, this finding wasn’t very surprising. I also assume that the more engagement you get, the more likely you are to start in Activity. Which also means the more engaged a reader is, the harder we have to work to earn their attention.
Hey Karo, Adam here - and very happy Amazon gift card winner, thank you 🙏
I am exactly that “Activity-first” reader, short replies pull me in, then I decide which deep dives to read, so your insight about Substack being social-first really lands.
To me, the 31% who want an intro feels less like “community problem” and more like “onboarding and emotional safety” - a warm, low-friction “Start here” touchpoint sounds like the right kind of experiment.
The launch pain reads like a distribution gap more than a skills gap, which makes StackShelf-as-infrastructure, not just a tool, feel very on target.
Thanks again for the gift, coffee on me next time, even if it is virtual. ☕💻
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this! Of course the content is amazing, but even more amazing for me (a new Substacker who just hit post on his first article this week) was the inspiration to create a 2026 Substack Roadmap. I started an in-depth plan last night and it has me so energized and excited for this future I am building. Thank you one more time!
That was interesting, but I'm not sure how it helps me, as someone who is not actually trying to sell a 'product' as such.
Rather I'm trying to interest readers in stories, mostly about the fascinating aspects of Australian history.
I post detailed history reports, plus I write daily notes about a range of matters that stir me to respond. So there is daily Activity, but how does that link to longer History posts?
Substack is a bit confusing, actually. The algothirim prioritises paid subscriptions because then Substack gets a commission, but only a small % of subscribers go paid. What about all the others who are free? It seems a very restricted model.
Thank you for sharing this. And you’re right, not everyone on Substack is selling a product. Some of the insights still apply because they’re really about reader behavior. Even as a history writer, your long-form pieces and your daily notes compete for attention in the exact same way. And this can be mitigated by commenting on other people's posts, so they get to discover you. Thank you for reading Michael.
Brilliant as always Karo - super interesting results. I'm always happy to share my resources for the "launching challenge" which unfortunately in all areas of NPD, new product development, is a myriad of trial and error vs paint by numbers process to launch successfully as you'll know 😳 thanks for being so epic !
How is this free? The depth of these insights is invaluable. Thanks, Karo, for sharing.
Thank you Clari! I’m really glad it was useful. I want this kind of insight to be accessible to everyone building here.
Wow! So many useful patterns on how we use and what we prefer on Substack. I don't know how I completely missed this survey questionnaire last week!
Thank you, Karon,for mentioning our LLM citation article with Aisha! :)
Thank you! I couldn’t believe how many patterns came out of this survey. And missing the survey is completely understandable, Substack has a way of hiding things right when you need them😂
Your article with Aisha was too good not to mention!
Thank you Karo for sharing your insights. Very valuable for not just your community but for the rest of us as well.
Thank you for reading Lorraine! I'm really glad it's helpful.
I’ve been a tech analyst for a long time. It’s easy to recognize when someone else who has great skills. The post is really well done
Thank you so much!
"53% of you head straight to Activity, not Home."
This flipped my entire understanding of Substack.
I've been optimizing for long-form posts when most people enter through the social layer first—comments, Notes, micro-interactions. That's where attention actually starts.
Your insight about the 31% needing introduction to community chat resonates hard. Discovery and onboarding is the problem, not engagement. People want to participate but can't find the door.
Really valuable breakdown. The survey approach to understanding your audience instead of assuming—that's the move.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting Sinan! I'm really glad it's useful.
Really appreciate that, Karo! Your survey data gave me the insight I needed to shift my entire approach.
Already testing it—focusing more on Notes and engagement, less on perfecting long-form posts.
Looking forward to seeing how your roadmap for 2026 plays out 👊
Thanks a ton for putting this together Karo. I suspect your findings represent a micro version of what's happening on the larger Substack community too and it makes perfect sense. But only in highsight :) Of course Substack's a discovery first channel and the Activity tab is the main thingy. Loved reading this. Thank you for sharing the results :)
Thanks so much! I’m with you, it's all incredibly logical, right?
Yeah but hindsight is 20:20. Wouldn’t have thought of it myself :)
I love this and it's so enlightening. I suspect most of my members wouold say the same about the chat too
That makes me feel better 😂
The way you connect reader behavior to product direction is genuinely rare on Substack.
That's such a lovely compliment, thank you John! 🤗
That "Activity" is the first place many people go to caught me by surprise 😃
Yet, it makes sense - on Sunday I posted about my achievement reaching 100 followers which boomed. So, naturally, every time I opened Substack, I went to Activity to reply to new comments and engage. This generated more engagement, and more comments so I went back to reply...and this became a 2-day endeavor.
So, yeah, unexpected, but also...normal? 😃
Yes, this finding wasn’t very surprising. I also assume that the more engagement you get, the more likely you are to start in Activity. Which also means the more engaged a reader is, the harder we have to work to earn their attention.
Yes very. Normal. I spend a lot of time in activity.
Hey Karo, Adam here - and very happy Amazon gift card winner, thank you 🙏
I am exactly that “Activity-first” reader, short replies pull me in, then I decide which deep dives to read, so your insight about Substack being social-first really lands.
To me, the 31% who want an intro feels less like “community problem” and more like “onboarding and emotional safety” - a warm, low-friction “Start here” touchpoint sounds like the right kind of experiment.
The launch pain reads like a distribution gap more than a skills gap, which makes StackShelf-as-infrastructure, not just a tool, feel very on target.
Thanks again for the gift, coffee on me next time, even if it is virtual. ☕💻
Thank you so much for reading and participating Adam!
Insightful as always !
Thank you so much for reading Yogesh
Loved seeing how you dug into reader behavior and value perception.
It reminded me how easy it is to overestimate what gets noticed versus what actually lands.
My Accountability Partner helps make those tiny daily actions visible and consistent.
How do you decide which small interactions are worth optimizing first?
Very interesting read. Nice job, Karo!
Thank you for reading Justin! 🤗
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this! Of course the content is amazing, but even more amazing for me (a new Substacker who just hit post on his first article this week) was the inspiration to create a 2026 Substack Roadmap. I started an in-depth plan last night and it has me so energized and excited for this future I am building. Thank you one more time!
I love this comment!! Thank you so much Brad! That kind of intention so early on will take you far!
That was interesting, but I'm not sure how it helps me, as someone who is not actually trying to sell a 'product' as such.
Rather I'm trying to interest readers in stories, mostly about the fascinating aspects of Australian history.
I post detailed history reports, plus I write daily notes about a range of matters that stir me to respond. So there is daily Activity, but how does that link to longer History posts?
Substack is a bit confusing, actually. The algothirim prioritises paid subscriptions because then Substack gets a commission, but only a small % of subscribers go paid. What about all the others who are free? It seems a very restricted model.
Thank you for sharing this. And you’re right, not everyone on Substack is selling a product. Some of the insights still apply because they’re really about reader behavior. Even as a history writer, your long-form pieces and your daily notes compete for attention in the exact same way. And this can be mitigated by commenting on other people's posts, so they get to discover you. Thank you for reading Michael.
It is interesting. I'm gaining several new subscribers and followers most days, so it is working.
Do your surveys indicate any differences between the behaviour of subscribers and followers?
No, unfortunately not. But I took a note to look into this next time.
Brilliant as always Karo - super interesting results. I'm always happy to share my resources for the "launching challenge" which unfortunately in all areas of NPD, new product development, is a myriad of trial and error vs paint by numbers process to launch successfully as you'll know 😳 thanks for being so epic !
That sounds really good Chris, I'd love to include your expertise. Thank you for reading!
Thank you for putting it together!!
My pleasure, thank you for reading Luis!