Facebook unveils Bulletin, its Substack newsletter competitor, but is not yet accepting signups and says it won't take a cut of creators' revenue “at launch”
Facebook won't take a cut ‘at launch’ — Facebook is getting into the subscription newsletter game.
The VergeJacob Kastrenakes
Context & Ripple Effects
Bulletin moves Facebook’s earlier newsletter-tool plans for journalists and writers into a public product after reporting said the company had recruited writers across sports and finance. Earlier reporting also said the service would live outside Facebook partly to avoid Apple and Google fees.
The launch extends Facebook’s longer subscription push, following its planned publisher subscription tests, but applies it to individual creators in direct competition with Substack.
First-order effects
Creators who can join Bulletin keep all subscription revenue at launch, while Facebook has not yet opened signups broadly.
Substack now faces a named competitor whose launch pricing sets a zero-fee benchmark for writers evaluating newsletter platforms.
Second-order effects
Facebook’s fee waiver makes platform take rates a more visible point of comparison for newsletter creators, pressuring Substack to differentiate through its existing creator tools and audience relationships.
Recruiting writers before broad signup availability concentrates Bulletin’s early competition on the creators Facebook has already selected rather than an open marketplace.
Third-order effects
If large platforms use waived fees to seed creator subscriptions, newsletter businesses may compete less on publishing tools alone and more on how long they can subsidize creator economics before charging a take rate.
Facebook’s shift from publisher subscription tests to creator newsletters points toward subscription infrastructure becoming another platform-controlled distribution layer for media.
The trend: Newsletter subscriptions are becoming a platform battleground in which large social networks use creator-friendly economics to challenge specialist publishing services.
If you sign up for a newsletter using Facebook's new service, Bulletin, you agree to have your data harvested in all the ways Facebook typically harvests data PLUS Facebook will harvest “additional information” https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18
Ryan Mac🙃 on x
Malcolm Gladwell's recent post for his Facebook-run newsletter extols the promise of self-driving cars. Nowhere in that newsletter did he disclose that he's a paid spokesperson for General Motors, which owns Cruise, a major self-driving AI company. https://malcolmgladwell.bulleti…
@tomscocca
Tom Scocca on x
Need 10,000 hours of study to decide whether “discover,” “fresh,” or “new” is the wrongest word here https://twitter.com/...
@facebook
@facebook on x
Today we're launching Bulletin, a new platform that empowers independent writers, experts, and journalists to share their voices. Start reading someone new, today https://bulletin.com/ https://twitter.com/...
@tidefallcapital
Trevor Scott on x
Zuck trying to netscape substack.
@skasriel
Stephane Kasriel on x
Proud to support independent writers with Bulletin, a new platform that will empower creators to grow their audiences and build subscription businesses (with payments securely handled by Facebook Pay). Check it out at https://bulletin.com/
@donie
Donie O'Sullivan on x
Facebook: We are not a news organization. Also Facebook: Facebook recruits dozens of writers and jumps into newsletters https://www.cnn.com/...
@keitholbermann
Keith Olbermann on x
Gladwell? A shill? That's unpossible! https://twitter.com/...
@mattdpearce
Matt Pearce on x
the contractorization of journalism continues apace https://twitter.com/...
@joshconstine
Josh Constine on x
Facebook launches Bulletin for newsletters ...But it won't say how much it will charge authors ...And it blatantly rips off Substack's design That should tell you how Facebook views creators as an experiment and commodity https://twitter.com/...
@poniewozik
James Poniewozik on x
Finally, a newsletter that re-creates the experience of getting something to read at the airport https://twitter.com/...
@brianstelter
Brian Stelter on x
Facebook's Bulletin participants are being paid to jump-start their newsletters with the expectation that they'll build up paying fan bases over time, in an elongated version of Substack's “Pro” program... https://www.cnn.com/...
@juddlegum
Judd Legum on x
Facebook will not “take a cut” of newsletter earnings because its business is data collection https://twitter.com/...
@mwseibel
Michael Seibel on x
You're a nobody until FB copies you...
@mikeisaac
Rat King on x
@JuddLegum i had never noticed the “to research and innovate for social good” line
@mgsiegler
M.G. Siegler on x
In all seriousness though, my god, Facebook. Just shameless. There are a million ways a newsletter tool could look and they chose to make it look... *exactly* like one. I guess it's flattering for @SubstackInc but it's honestly just sort of creepy too.
@parismarx
Paris Marx on x
Malcolm Gladwell's first post on his Facebook newsletter is basically Waymo sponcon. It doesn't contend with the real world, but uses a few rides in a Waymo car to build the kind of technosolutionist narrative the AV companies pulled back from years ago. https://malcolmgladwell.b…
@barry
Barry Petchesky on x
@MikeIsaac Oh I get it it's for dummies and our parents
@taylorlorenz
Taylor Lorenz on x
All these platforms need Waymo editors https://twitter.com/...
@mikeisaac
Rat King on x
the writers Facebook recruited for Bulletin really give you an idea of the median age of its userbase
@db
@db on x
“Facebook says it won't take a fee from writers “at launch,” and writers retain full ownership of their work and subscriber list.” How long until this changes? 🤔 https://twitter.com/...
@lanceulanoff
Lance Ulanoff on x
I would assume this is subject to change: 'Facebook says it won't take a fee from writers “at launch,” and writers retain full ownership of their work and subscriber list.' https://www.theverge.com/... via @Verge
@sarthakgh
Sar Haribhakti on x
Very excited to see the media class dunk on FB Bulletin today and for FB to announce how wildly successful Bulletin is in a quarter