Substack Introduces TikTok-Style Short-Form Video Feed

Substack is expanding its video capabilities with the launch of a scrollable video feed, allowing users to engage with short-form content directly within the app. The move aligns with a broader industry trend of platforms adopting TikTok-style feeds, no doubt due to the now-rapidly-approaching April 5th deadline that could see Tiktok banned in the U.S. entirely.

The latest update builds on Substack’s existing video features, which were first introduced in 2022. In 2024, the company rolled out a Media Tab within its app to help users navigate video content more easily. Now, that tab has been redesigned into a vertically scrolling feed, featuring short clips, video notes, and snippets from longer video posts. The company also plans to introduce long-form video and podcast previews to the feed in the near future.

Substack frames this update as a way to increase visibility for creators, making it easier for audiences to discover new voices beyond traditional newsletters. The company notes that 82% of its top-earning writers now incorporate multimedia content, up from just over 50% in April 2024 – and given the recent announcement that users can now monetize within the app, this is essentially the second half of a two-stage release.

By offering a built-in video feed, Substack provides an alternative to platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels, potentially keeping more of its creators’ content within its ecosystem. Writers who typically share short-form videos elsewhere may now be encouraged to post directly to Substack, further growing their audience within the platform.

With short-form video now a dominant format across digital platforms, Substack’s latest update is an obvious attempt to drive more multimedia engagement – and one that could be fairly successful, given that many companies are already using multimedia in their Substack newsletters even without the official tools for direct integration.