Maybe somewhat ironically, I said at the beginning of the year that “subscriptions” were going to be my out. At the time, I was thinking about app memberships, streaming platforms, and all the random services that now require monthly fees. But somewhere along the way, I realized I actually wanted to subscribe to more digital publications.
I started taking a closer look at my media consumption and wasn’t loving how I was spending my time on my phone. Even with news, I didn’t feel like I was actively choosing what I consumed… it was just whatever popped up on my explore page, got reposted to stories, or showed up in a random TikTok. (How many times have I caught myself saying, “Oh I read an article about…” and it was not an article but some random video….) And half the time, I couldn’t even tell where the information was coming from. The person seemed trustworthy… but were they really? Who knows! I’d scroll from a video insisting sleep training is essential straight to a carousel post declaring it will definitely cause lifelong anxiety.
Meanwhile, I was constantly maxing out my free article limits on various sites and even resorting to reading Reddit summaries of pieces I couldn’t access.
I wish I could subscribe to everything, because now that I am subscribed to a few publications, I’m loving it and even craving more. The real problem is time; there’s just not enough of it in the day to read everything I want to read.
To be intentional about where I spent my money, I started paying attention to the articles I was naturally clicking on. Where were they from? What were they about? Which ones did I read all the way through versus the ones that had a great headline but disappointing content?
I also knew I didn’t want my subscriptions to be just news. I wanted a mix… publications that offered newsletters, podcasts, new topics I might not have sought out on my own, etc. I already subscribed to the NY Times, so I felt like my bases there were pretty covered. (I really take advantage of that subscription between the articles, newsletters, The Daily, all the games, etc.)
Ultimately I landed on The Cut, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic. Between these three publications and the NY Times, I am feeling like my “content cup” is completely filled. I also feel so much better consuming news and other content this way. It feels deliberate. I know it’s been fact checked. And I’m learning about things that I didn’t even originally set out to learn. Loving it so much.
It’s such a good, enriching alternative to the Doom Scroll™️.
Would love to know if there are publications you subscribe to and love!
