For the longest time, I assumed that if you wanted a blog connected to the fediverse, you needed something like WordPress, Blogger, Mastodon, or another platform that was already known for federation support. Substack never really came to mind. In my head, it existed in its own separate ecosystem, disconnected from the wider fediverse.
Recently, though, I discovered something that genuinely surprised me.
Through a bit of experimentation, I found out that you can connect a Substack publication to Bridgy Fed and effectively federate your Substack blog. That means your posts can become accessible through the fediverse in a way that I honestly did not think was possible. It was one of those moments where I stumbled across a feature almost by accident and immediately thought, “Wait, more people should know about this.”
The fediverse has become increasingly interesting to me over the years because it offers an alternative way of distributing content. Instead of relying entirely on centralized platforms, federation allows content to flow across interconnected services. A post made in one place can be seen and interacted with from another. For bloggers, that can potentially mean reaching readers who may never have otherwise discovered their work.
I already knew that WordPress blogs could be federated. Depending on the setup, WordPress users have had federation options available for quite some time. Blogger blogs can also be connected through services like Bridgy Fed. There are various platforms and websites that can be brought into the fediverse ecosystem if you are willing to spend a little time configuring them.
What surprised me was seeing Substack join that list.
Substack is often thought of primarily as a newsletter platform. While many creators use it as a traditional blog, the platform itself does not market federation as one of its major features. Because of that, I never really considered the possibility that my Substack content could become part of the fediverse.
Yet after experimenting with Bridgy Fed, it appears that it can be done.
For bloggers who care about discoverability, digital independence, and alternative distribution methods, this could be a valuable tool. A lot of writers spend enormous amounts of time trying to figure out how to get their content in front of new readers. Some focus on social media. Others focus on search engines. Some use email newsletters. Federation adds another potential avenue for people to encounter your work.
Of course, federation is not a magic solution. Connecting your blog to the fediverse is not going to suddenly bring thousands of readers overnight. Just like every other platform, building an audience still requires consistency, quality content, and engagement. However, it does create another pathway for people to find what you are writing.
I also think there is a broader lesson here about experimentation.
Sometimes we make assumptions about what platforms can and cannot do. We develop a mental list of capabilities and limitations and rarely revisit them. Then one day we click around, try something new, and discover that the landscape has changed.
That is essentially what happened here.
I assumed Substack and federation lived in separate worlds. It turns out that assumption was wrong.
So if you have a Substack publication and have ever wished it could participate in the fediverse ecosystem, you may want to look into Bridgy Fed. You might discover, as I did, that federation is more accessible than you thought.
The internet is constantly evolving. New tools appear. Existing tools gain new capabilities. Connections that seemed impossible a few years ago become surprisingly straightforward. Sometimes the only way to find those possibilities is to experiment and see what happens.
In this case, that experimentation led me to a discovery that I suspect many bloggers may not know about yet: yes, you can federate a Substack blog.
And honestly, I think that is pretty cool.