Facebook's Substack Rival Service Bulletin Is Now Live: What You Need To Know

Facebook Inc FB said on Tuesday it has launched its highly-anticipated Bulletin, an online platform for independent writers to post free and paid articles and podcasts, a service that will rival Substack. 

What Happened: The social media giant said Bulletin will offer independent content creators who make a living by connecting directly with their readers, a set of publishing and subscription tools to distribute and monetize content.

Substack offers writers and journalists a platform to publish their content with a website and branding of their choice while it pays some upfront to create content.

Facebook says Bulletin creators will have a standalone website under their own brand and can choose their own subscription prices. Subscription payments will be handled by Facebook Pay.

Bulletin will also allow tools to distribute podcasts in addition to long-form writing, including externally-hosted podcasts and additional audio features coming soon.

Why It Matters: The news platform is yet another move Facebook is making to expand into the media industry. Further, Facebook and other social media companies are increasingly fighting to create user stickiness with different features and offerings. 

The Menlo Park, California-based company’s latest service is being seen as an attempt to woo content creators, especially writers and journalists, who have taken to newsletter driven content delivery on Substack, Microsoft Corp MSFT-owned LinkedIn and Twitter Inc TWTR-owned Revue.

See Also: Facebook Launches 'Live Shopping Fridays': What You Should Know

Following social-audio app Clubhouse’s success, the likes of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn rushed to build their own versions of audio social media apps.

Price Action: Facebook shares closed 1.05% lower at $351.89 on Tuesday.

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Photo: Courtesy of Facebook