Substack’s new ‘Reply Rules’ feature lets creators control how people respond

Substack 新推出的“回复规则”功能让创作者能够掌控读者的互动方式

Substack announced on Wednesday a new feature called “Reply Rules,” designed to give creators greater control over how their audiences are able to respond. With the feature, creators can establish specific guidelines for comments on their posts, in Notes, or in Chat. These guidelines might include requests to eliminate AI slop or profanity, or something silly like only requiring replies in haiku form.

Substack 周三宣布推出一项名为“回复规则”（Reply Rules）的新功能，旨在让创作者对其受众的互动方式拥有更大的控制权。通过该功能，创作者可以为文章评论、Notes 或聊天室设定具体的准则。这些准则可能包括要求消除 AI 生成的垃圾内容或脏话，甚至是一些有趣的规定，比如要求回复必须以俳句形式呈现。

Substack explains that the system learns from users’ actions, such as when they hide replies, and will automatically filter out comments that don’t match the creator’s preferences. Creators maintain visibility over these hidden replies and have the option to unhide them if they change their minds. Currently, Reply Rules are available for all English-language publications.

Substack 解释称，该系统会从用户的操作中进行学习（例如当用户隐藏回复时），并自动过滤掉不符合创作者偏好的评论。创作者仍可查看这些被隐藏的回复，如果改变主意，还可以选择将其恢复显示。目前，“回复规则”功能已向所有英语出版物开放。

Substack has always gone for a decentralized moderation approach, where writers are responsible for policing their own communities. Creators have access to tools such as the option to lock posts or threads to prevent additional comments, comment deletion, and the ability to ban or suspend users when necessary. The new feature may reduce the need for creators to sift through every comment manually.

Substack 一直采取去中心化的审核方式，即由作者负责管理自己的社区。创作者可以使用多种工具，例如锁定文章或讨论串以禁止新增评论、删除评论，以及在必要时封禁或暂停用户权限。这项新功能或许能减少创作者手动筛选每一条评论的工作量。

However, it’s important to note that Substack has faced criticism regarding its content moderation practices, especially regarding far-right newsletters. Critics argue that the platform’s more lenient approach allows harmful rhetoric to thrive. In today’s announcement, Substack seemed to address this and underscored its commitment to fostering diverse online communities, despite the challenges this entails.

然而，值得注意的是，Substack 在内容审核实践方面一直面临批评，尤其是在涉及极右翼通讯稿的问题上。批评者认为，该平台较为宽松的审核方式助长了有害言论的滋生。在今天的公告中，Substack 似乎对此做出了回应，并强调了其致力于培育多元化在线社区的承诺，尽管这伴随着诸多挑战。

As Substack puts it, “Since its founding, Substack has sought to create the best possible conditions for cultures of many varieties to flourish online. Achieving this often involves difficult trade-offs, but alongside our core model — where we only earn when writers, artists, journalists, musicians, and others earn — we’ve managed to carve out a unique path relative to other platforms.”

正如 Substack 所言：“自成立以来，Substack 一直致力于为各种文化在网络上的繁荣创造最佳条件。实现这一目标往往需要艰难的权衡，但结合我们的核心模式——即只有当作家、艺术家、记者、音乐家和其他创作者获得收益时我们才获利——我们已经成功地走出了一条不同于其他平台的独特道路。”

This year, Substack has rolled out several updates to its platform, including a built-in recording studio for creators to pre-record and publish videos. It also launched a TV app for subscribers to watch video posts and livestreams on their living room screens.

今年，Substack 对其平台进行了多次更新，包括为创作者提供内置录制工作室，以便他们预录并发布视频。此外，它还推出了电视应用程序，让订阅者可以在客厅屏幕上观看视频文章和直播。