Substack is building on its interactive Chat feature, today introducing an integrated video tool for creators.

Newsletter creators who use the popular platform can now send videos directly to their subscribers in chat. Those subscribed to a creator’s chat will be instantly notified that a video has been uploaded.

Creators can use their phones to record and upload these videos directly onto Substack.

In a blog post written by Jasmine Sun, Product Manager at Substack, the feature is described as “an easy way for creators to speak directly to their subscribers”, without being at the mercy of algorithms on other video-centric platforms.

“We built video in Chat for publishers who wish to speak directly to subscribers in this way,” writes Sun.

“Think of video in Chat like sending a voice memo to a group chat, or recording a video for your Instagram story—minus the opaque algorithm deciding whether your post gets seen,” reads the post, which didn’t miss a chance to take a dig at Meta-owned social giant Instagram.

Substack has certainly gotten into videos more seriously, involving video podcasts and shareable clips into its options for newsletter writers. The platform appears to be adapting and redesigning its products to keep up with the sea of social media platforms out there, as seen with the many features introduced in the past few years: the invention of chat, private newsletters, and “Notes”, to name a few.

With this latest feature, it seems the platform is ready to take on even more functions – and perhaps attempt to eclipse competitors.