Substack finally has DMs

Substack has finally added DMs to its platform, allowing newsletter subscribers and writers to chat directly with others.

Announced on Wednesday in a blog post, Substack messages now sit within the new Chat tab on the app and website. You'll see messages from newsletters you're subscribed to alongside those with other users you're connected with — all other messages will go into a Requests folder, which you can approve or reject like other messaging platforms.

If you want to message someone on Substack, you can do so from a writer's page or another user's profile page, or directly in the Chat tab. You can also share posts or Notes (Substack's answer to tweets) through Chat. Blocked and banned users won't be able to message people who've flagged them, and you can report messages within the Chat app — a function only added to Substack in January.

Beyond being a way for users to build community with other users, Substack sees the feature as a particularly good opportunity for writers to build a lucrative subscriber base; for example, as the company suggested in its post, DMs could be a limited perk for paid subscribers, with a lock icon appearing for non-paying readers. Writers can also contact fellow writers to collaborate directly within Substack.

It's a much-needed drawcard for Substack, which has been floundering through controversy after controversy amid its ongoing content moderation issues and the company's inadequate handling of misinformation and hate flourishing on the platform despite its Terms of Use and Content Guidelines. Though Substack remains popular (in 2023, the company said it had over 20 million monthly active subscribers and 2 million paid subscribers), users have left the platform in droves, multiple times.