How TikTok creator Aaron Parnas found success on Substack

Aaron Parnas is an independent journalist and attorney who built a following on TikTok by providing a Gen Z perspective on the news. After winning Substack’s TikTok Liberation Prize, Aaron went live with Substack CEO Chris Best to talk about bringing his community to the app, why Substack is different from the other guys, and how to build a multiplatform content strategy. Here are a few highlights from their conversation.

On the decision to start a Substack

Aaron Parnas: I always wanted to do a text-based newsletter-type thing, and I’ve tried out other platforms like Medium and Mailchimp and all this other stuff, but nothing was intuitive enough for me to do the work that I wanted to do.

Substack was a mix between an email newsletter and a social media platform, so it offered the best of both worlds. And it also now offers all these video capabilities, whether it’s the long-form videos that I put out daily, or I can repost my short-form content in the Notes feature.

It has Notes, which is like Twitter or Bluesky; it has the videos, which are like YouTube or TikTok; and then it has the tech space, which none of the other platforms really have. So it’s kind of the best of all three worlds. And I’ve been loving it.

Chris Best: Yeah, we sometimes say that other platforms are built around some media format, and Substack is built around you. It’s a place where people can subscribe to you and get everything you make, whether they like long live videos, or short-form video, or quick text-based things, or long text-based things. You can publish any kind of thing that you want.

On concerns over other platforms

Aaron: A lot of people are looking for a platform that isn’t owned by a billionaire or a foreign adversary, right? Like [one] that can’t necessarily be manipulated. And Substack really is that. I have full editorial control—you don’t control what I put out. There’s no censorship. The algorithm doesn’t push my content down if it doesn’t like it for whatever reason.

And what I like about [Substack] is that it’s not a partisan platform. You have Republicans, you have Democrats, you have Independents, you have everyone on this platform, all pushing out content, and it’s working.

And that’s what social media should be, in my opinion.

Chris: It’s really good to hear you say that, because it’s something we’ve worked pretty hard to do. We have a strong commitment to freedom of the press.

This is all we do. We don’t have entanglements, political commitments, agendas, beyond making this tool work for people. So I’m glad that that comes through, because it’s something that we put quite a bit of effort into.

On bringing a community to Substack

Aaron: I feel like we’ve been able to build a community here on Substack of people who may not have their own newsletters, but they’re excited to read mine and others on here. We’re talking in the threads, we’re communicating every day. They’re communicating with one another as well. It’s not just me communicating with folks, it’s the people who read my stuff communicating with one another too. So it’s been really cool. It’s been a great experience.

And I’m excited to see where the platform goes between now and the end of the year, like the growth over the next year, because I think there are some really cool things that could be added and could be changed and can make it even better. So I’m excited.

Chris: That’s great. Well, now you’re a creative advisor to Substack after winning this prize, so you can tell us all the things we need to do to make it great.

On posting jitters

Chris: When you first started your Substack, was there a moment where you wondered or worried whether people would subscribe, whether they would pay, whether it was going to work? I think a lot of people I’ve talked to who have launched Substacks have this fear—not even the fear of failing, necessarily, but this fear of putting yourself out there and having this spot where you have this direct relationship. And then what if nobody shows up? What if it doesn’t work?

Did you have that at all? Or did you know that it was going to work?

Aaron: I always thought it was going to work, because I love my followers and I love all the people that support my work. And the community we built on the other platforms, I really thought would shine through even more on Substack. So I thought it was going to work for the content that I do.

But I will say that I think the number one thing for social media generally is just doing it, right? Not being afraid. Just putting your face behind a camera, putting content out, and just seeing what happens. Trial and error. And ultimately, not everything’s going to work, not everything’s going to go viral. A few things will! But if you don’t try, you’re not going to succeed.

So I get the fear. But I personally didn’t have the fear, because I know my audience. And I think if you know your audience, they’ll go with you wherever you are.

On building a multiplatform content strategy

Aaron: I’m a huge believer in diversifying the platforms you’re on, because, like TikTok, anything can go away at a moment’s notice.

Chris: Right.

Aaron: So I think what I loved about Substack is that the long-form content that I’ve been able to produce, like the five-, six-minute videos that I put out once or twice a day, they’re automatically posted to my YouTube. So folks who don’t necessarily see my Substack every day, they see my YouTube. And I am able to take clips from those and put them on my Instagram or my TikTok, right? So it’s given me a tool to really be able to diversify my platforms even more.

On barriers for creators

Aaron: I hate video editing. I don’t know how to do it well. I’m not good at it. Like, I don’t edit any of my videos. So I’ve always been hesitant to start a YouTube channel or even do long-form content. And Substack’s really opened that door for me, even though I’m not really editing my videos still. It’s just being able to push out my content in ways that I haven’t been able to do before.

Chris: That’s very cool. One of my hopes for this feature that we’re using right now actually is that, over time, we can make the tools smarter and smarter so that you can show up, have an interesting conversation, say something, talk to the camera, make the thing in a natural way. And, as much as possible, we help automatically edit, process, and format it.

You know, it’s never going to be quite the same as having, like, a really talented editing team go through and do it. And some people will still do that. But I think the number of people—like if you, as an amazing, famous video creator, are someone who feels like heavy video editing is a barrier to you succeeding on YouTube, to making long-form content, it makes me feel like there must be a lot of people in that position.

Parting words

Aaron: I think the only thing left is, if you guys are watching this and you don’t have your own Substack newsletters, start them. There’s no better time than now to start them. And DM me if you do—I’d love to check them out.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. For more from Chris and Aaron's conversation, including their predictions on what's next for TikTok, click here.