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If you’ve spent some time on Substack Notes, you’ve probably noticed something odd that no other social media network has (or doesn’t have).
You can type “#” all you want, but unlike X or Instagram or TikTok, your hashtags just sit there unclickable. They don’t turn into clickable links.
That’s by design.
But why does Substack, the platform supposedly reinventing the newsletter and becoming the new hype social network, skip one of social media’s most basic tools for organizing the chaos?
Great question. Let’s answer it!
Tags aren’t hashtags.
First the basics. Substack does have “tags.”
But they’re not hashtags.
They’re just admin labels you slap on your posts so readers can browse your archive by topic. You add those tags in your post settings.
You write a post about your dog, tag it “dogs” and done. And those tags are useful for some stuff. Like SEO or organizing your Substack navigation menu, for example.
But these tags stay mostly inside your little Substack island.
They don’t become clickable wormholes for everyone to see (and follow). They don’t show up in a trending feed.
Some high-level tags are there for discovery purposes, like the tags (or rather topics) you give your publication as a whole in the pub settings. But these are only a few hand-selected ones.
So what about Substack Notes
It is social media.
Yet, no tags. No hashtags.
Substack launched Notes as its answer to Twitter’s implosion (I would assume). And thank God they did, because Notes has become a) my fav social media network and b) a great way to get more readers on Substack.
But Substack didn’t really slap a discovery layer on top of Notes.
There’s no hashtag system, no trending notes tab, no search that magically pulls up every #Tech hot take.
In other words: Notes is more closed. Deliberately.
Why?
Because discovery is complicated. And risky.
Hashtags sound simple. But in practice, they come with headaches. Once you let anyone blast hashtags all over their notes, you’re on the hook to moderate spam, porn bots, bad actors, and a lot worse.
Substack, in contrast, wants to be cozy. Or as I like to call it, controlled without control.
They pitch themselves as a “trusted space for writers and readers.” More email list, less social media algorithms.
And also, building a robust, real-time hashtag system is probably technically expensive.
So how do you get discovered without hashtags?
If you can’t ride a trending hashtag, what then. Well:
1. Be active. Like Notes you enjoy. Restack other people’s Notes. Reply with actual thoughts.
2. Be consistent. Drop Notes regularly. The feed moves fast.
3. Share your Posts as Notes. Insides, excerpts, learnings, and more.
4. Add media. Images, video, audio.
Somehow, Notes has made Substack even better than it already was. Without being too much “social media”.
Will Substack ever add hashtags?
Maybe.
They might make sense if Substack wants to compete harder with other social platforms.
But for now, they don’t have to, I feel like. They’re betting on a more intimate vibe: less noise, more relationships.
The Bottom Line
For the time being, typing a # doesn’t do much on Notes. Or Substack as a whole for that matter. And I don’t mind that at all.
Substack posts have tags. That’s good. And Substack has a discovery engine. Notes has an algorithm. It’s all good. And I think it’s working well. No need to add layers upon layers right now.
Brought to you by WriteStack* — I am actually using the premium version right now, and I am loving it so far.
I distinctly remember when Twitter invented hashtags. Actually, it was Twitter users who invented hashtags It was to help the algorithm decide what the topic of a tweet was about. But after a while, the algorithm got smart enough to do that without the hashtag. Flickr was the first site to popularize tagging of any kind.
It’s actually a refreshing change and makes for a more interesting & intelligent platform, with people who actually want to read long form articles instead of short dopamine hit tweets. It’s a differentiation.