Substack Notes has been around for two and a half years now, and the feed is beginning to resemble a thriving jungle—alive with fascinating creatures who each play a vital role in the ecosystem, helping one another grow and evolve.
To celebrate everything that’s blooming on Notes, we’ve put together a little field guide to the many species of posters you’ll encounter. This isn’t meant to be comprehensive; think of it as a snapshot of the landscape, with a focus on art, culture, and humor—the subjects we suspect most readers of The Substack Post find irresistible.
The Shitposters Satirical Social Commentators
In a since-deleted note, anonymous poster LL asked her followers to stop referring to her as a shitposter. Whatever you call LL and her contemporaries, every good place on the internet needs them.
father_karine blesses our feed with a mix of lighthearted humor and biting criticism.
Fashion investigator Biz Sherbert is believably optimistic about all sorts of things.
Dia Lupo (yes, it’s her real name; no relation to Dua Lipa) fires off observational missives about her life and times.
See also: donald boat, harry, Shaiyan, caleb hearon, evanie laurent, tom, danielle, Mackenzie Thomas, M.E. Rothwell, Philip Traylen, Paul Staples, Emma Newman-Holden, Ziwe
The Tumblr Diaspora
These posters bring the ~aesthetic~ energy to Notes. They make excellent use of the photo gallery feature, devising clever themes around beautiful images.
Alex DiCapo Patel frequently shares photos from runway shows past.
stephanie collects photos of “living women artists you should know.”
Zoë Yasemin shares old and new editorial campaigns from fashion magazines and advertisements.
See also: Rose Florence, Elsie Morales, surrealist covens, Lauren Sands, Kate McBride, LoLo, Nick Struutinsky, Kayla Roolart, Alana Fallon, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson
The Literary Crowd
There are a ton of readers and writers on Substack, but these posters are the ones building a new literary scene. They’re starting magazines, sharing thoughts on literary gossip du jour, hyping other writers’ work; in other words, they’re turning Substack into a modern-day literary salon.
When Celine Nguyen isn’t writing an ode to Proust or a modern history of AI, she’s closely reading other writers on Substack and sharing their work with thoughtful recommendations.
As the editor of The Metropolitan Review, Ross Barkan has played a key role in showcasing the literary bona fides of Substackers.
A generous reader and writer, Naomi Kanakia recommends the Great Books and great posts with equal verve.
See also: Alexander Sorondo, Sam Kahn, Henry Begler
The Young and Newyorkish
These are the journalists who live in New York and either write for mainstream media outlets or used to write for them. Ignore Hamish’s shade—they keep us apprised of what’s happening, share updates on the media scandals of the day, and, yes, let us know what’s cool.
Emily Sundberg asks the hard questions.
Teddy (T.M.) Brown weighs in on the latest media industry gossip making the rounds.
Kaitlin Phillips has joined the dark side.
See also: Danya Issawi, Delia Cai, J Wortham, Chris Gayomali, Mary H.K. Choi, Rachel Seville Tashjian, JP Brammer, Molly Young
The Artists
It turns out that some of you can paint, sketch, design, knit, sew, and do all other manner of art-making.
Gabe illustrates the everyday.
Kika MacFarlane is always creating something.
Ella Emhoff is knitting up a storm.
See also: Erika Lee Sears, Manu Montoya, Asher Perlman, Liana Finck, Jason Chatfield, Eliza Brooke, Tala Rae Schlossberg, Harry Stooshinoff, Janet Asante Sullivan
Pamela Anderson
Did you know Pamela Anderson is on Substack?
The Memelords
I don’t know if they make the memes themselves. I don’t care. We need more memes on Substack. Thank you to these posters.
The Cats
This is still God’s internet after all.
Tao Lin gets inside Nini’s mind.
Santi Araújo shares an endlessly amusing stream of found cat photos.
soleil is a cat seemingly posting photos of … herself?
Have a favorite Notes poster? Let us know in the comments.
"Have a favorite Notes poster? Let us know in the comments."
me bitch
The best notes are spicy. Here is a post dedicated to memes about substack: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-make-a-substack-meme-compilation