Broadening out from its text-only beginnings and just days before millions may lose access to their beloved video app TikTok, Substack has announced it's adding a sitewide live streaming option for all users.
The new video tool is an expansion of an earlier "bestseller"-only feature, which offered platform-based live streaming options to its top contributors, referred to as "publishers." Now, any contributor with at least 10 free subscribers can go live. Once the live stream is over, publishers will be sent an audio recording of the live stream and AI-generated clips to share on their pages, the platform writes.
Substack — one of the most popular personal publishing and newsletter platforms with more than 35 million active subscriptions — has been overhauling its offerings after a subscriber-hitting content moderation fiasco revealed the platform was hosting numerous alt-right and neo-Nazi blogs. This came only a few months after Substack found itself at the center of a public feud with X CEO Elon Musk, who accused the platform of downloading Twitter data outside of its API terms and then blocked external Substack links from appearing on the site. Substack later introduced Notes, a scrolling recommendations feed that some noted looked similar to the social media platform it was feuding with.
Over the last year, the website announced it would be adding a chat function to connect writers directly to their subscribers, and later added a paywall feature that allowed publishers to cordon off conversation access to paid followers only. A few months later, Substack brought integrated video options to the subscriber chat function, enabling writers (now, more like creators) to send pre-recorded clips directly to readers. In the fall, the platform announced an even wider video offering with a test run of its live stream tools.
Many online are seeking out new video-based platforms as the countdown to a total TikTok shutdown nears zero, and, seeking to capitalize on the same popularity that's skyrocketed TikTok's users over its eight years, social platforms have pivoted to more integrated video features.
