What the ⭐️ activity rating means on Substack

What it helps you measure and an experiment to test your Notes audience

The activity rating is found under the Subscribers tab on your dashboard. Make sure under “Columns” (circled in red) you have Activity selected so you can see the Activity rating in your Subscriber dashboard.

Did you know that Substack’s ⭐️ activity rating doesn’t fully capture your subscribers' true engagement? I recently reached out to the head of data at Substack and asked for clarification on what the activity rating means, and here’s what I learned…

While the activity rating factors in post opens/views and Notes interactions (comments, likes and restacks), it doesn’t track key metrics like post comments, likes and restacks. Because of this, I don’t recommend using the Activity rating as a primary way to measure our subscribers’ total engagement.

But the activity rating is a great way to measure who’s active in your newsletter and on Notes.

And here’s an experiment to test it.