Is Substack Safe?
Everything You Need to Know about Our New Platform
Hey there,
Welcome to The YA Section, the all-new rebrand and upgrade of Controversial Book Club. If you’re new here, make sure to check out our introduction posts A Fresh New Look and In With the New if you haven’t already. They’ll explain where we came from, what we’re all about, and where we’ll be taking this blog, all of which you’ll need to know before proceeding with the post.
Read them? Alright, let’s get started.
The purpose of this post is to make sure you all are aware of what Substack is, how it works, and, to the possible anxious parents, if it will be safe for teens to visit. Keep in mind that this blog was made by teens for teens and that we would never want to put underage individuals in an unsafe internet situation. This platform has been inspected and approved by our parents after we showed them what this post will be exploring. So let’s dive in.
What is Substack?
Substack is a fairly new blogging and newsletter platform for independent writers and content creators. Its platform is extremely user-friendly for both author and reader and is one of the most top-rated newsletter hosts in the world. But the focus right now is not on the websites made with Substack but Substack.com itself. You see, the Substack website features a ton of cool features. As shown in the photo below, the Substack homepage displays recent posts from newsletters you’re subscribed to (shout-out to the featured newsletters below!), and Substack Notes below that. Using the side navigation bar, you have access to your inbox, which shows all posts from your subscriptions; all chats, such as DMs and your subscriptions’ chats; your notification; a search widget; and your used profile.
An important thing to note is: If you are subscribed to a Substack publication, the Substack website is not a necessity. You can read posts and see notifications just fine on the publication (in this case, The YA Section) website. Now, if you want to engage in any chats (though we don’t think the DMs are really necessary) or the subscribers-only chat, you will have to access the Substack website or app. But if you just want to read, like, and comment on the blog, visiting the Substack website/app is completely unnecessary and you don’t have to.
What is Substack Notes?
Substack Notes is one of the things we thought might cause some of our former readers to stray away because Substack Notes is pretty much just Twitter for Substack users. Both authors and readers can post notes for others to see, like, and reply to for helping generate traffic to their publication, speak what’s on their mind, post updates, and more. However, it is set up a lot like social media which we knew some readers’ parents would not like and we understand.
But fear not!
As stated in a previous paragraph, the Substack website/app is not something subscribers are required to visit. And even if you want to access the chats and inbox, you don’t need to use Substack Notes. We, The YA Section authors, personally avoid Notes and recommend that you do as well because Substack Notes are pretty inessential for teens. Even if you want to hear what your favorite authors have to say, most of the time Notes are just random memes, quotes, and updates you’ll see on the publications anyway.
So to the social-media-wary parents (and the social-media-wary teens as well), don’t sweat! You can easily subscribe to The YA Section and other Substack publications without exposing yourself to Substack Notes or any unsafe internet environment.
How to Make Your Substack Account Safe
Substack is a pretty big, diverse platform. As a teen, you don’t want to expose yourself to internet strangers or inappropriate content. Thankfully, Substack has multiple security settings you can set up for your user profile to make your experience on The YA Section safer. Here’s how you can do it:
Go to your user profile Settings — click the attached link or click on your user profile picture and then click Settings to access your user settings.
Scroll down to Privacy — from the user settings, scroll down to the section under the heading Settings and explore the possible security features. For example, under Allow message requests from, select No one to prevent other Substack users from contacting you, as shown in the image below.
Select all safety features necessary — From hiding your likes to filtering out explicit content, make sure to select as many safety features as you need to either satisfy your parents or prevent all possible unsafe situations. If you have any further questions about this, feel free to leave a comment or DM
.
Do you need to create a Substack account?
If creating accounts scares you and you’re still deliberating whether this is safe or not, here’s something you may find helpful: you do not have to create a Substack account to read and subscribe to The YA Section. Now if you want to like our comment on any of our posts, you will need to create a Substack account, but if you’re fine with just reading what we publish then you can simply subscribe without creating an account of Substack. However, since some of our posts are reader-dependent and we have an exclusive subscribers-only chat, we would recommend that you create an account and apply the safety features to experience The YA Section in the best way.
So, overall, is Substack safe? The answer is: It’s up to you. If you don’t like creating accounts and are daunted by the social-media-style Substack notes, you may not consider Substack safe. But if you’re fine with creating accounts, apply the safety features, and avoid Substack notes (or not), then Substack is perfectly safe for you, whether you’re a teen, parent, or random adult! In the end though, it doesn’t matter as long as you can access our posts and enjoy them.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment or DM
. Have a blessed day! :)
Also, in the app you can bypass the notes screen and have your default homepage be your inbox so you don't have to see any notes (you can do this under the appearance section in settings). I set mine to this because I was sick of having notes pop up on my home that were full of bad language or politically controversial.
Wonderful post, Jack. Really helpful, and I'll be sure to share this info with my subscribers.