HOW TO: Find cool articles & essays
part 1: a guide to how I find my hundreds of article & essay recs
Every time I reference an article (an actual article, not a TikTok or Tweet) with friends and family, I find that I’m met more often with questions regarding how I find reading material than the subject matter I referenced. Because of the underlying tone in the question, I’ve not been inclined to actually think about it until recently, when someone important to me genuinely wanted to know.
Sometime in 2021, I found myself spending inordinate hours of my day doom-scrolling on TikTok, excusing my behavior as “research for work” or justifying it as a response to the pandemic. Naturally, being as self-aware as I am, I resolved to scroll on social media less and found a few productive circumvents.
TAPERING OFF DOOMSCROLLING
Social media has gotten very addicting over the past decade (to say the least), but we can learn how to use it to our advantage. Gradually replacing doom-scrolling with healthier behaviors may sound silly, but quitting a social media addiction cold turkey can result in a risky relapse or withdrawal.
Create another account on your social media apps and utilize the additional profile for your tailored interests. With algorithms becoming more and more advanced, almost like a magic mirror telling you exactly what you want to see, social media pages can become specialized to subjects that you enjoy delving into.
When I finally conceded to the undergraduate Finstagram movement in 2017, I not only felt relief by treating the 20-follower account as an open diary but also learned how easy it was to be able to follow a million interest accounts to spark inspiration and be a part of new conversations. Now, I go weeks forgetting to check in on my friends’ online presence because I’m far more entertained by content that feeds my curiosity (sorry, friends!).
3 WAYS TO FIND INTERESTING READINGS
1. SUBSCRIPTION NEWSLETTERS
My email inboxes, both my real and spam accounts, are dangerously close to the 15GB limit partly because of how many weekly newsletters come through with tailored article recommendations (I don’t go through all of these every day, I’ll just scroll through while I’m waiting for my coffee to brew or in between meetings).
Depending on the curator, I’ll either get offered current events or intriguing op-eds on a daily or weekly basis. Everyone starts somewhere and having a list sent to you with a brief of what you’re about to read is a great start. Here are some of my favorites:
2. TWITTER JOURNALISTS AND TIKTOK CREATORS
From sharing their work to finding primary sources, journalists have always relied on Twitter for communication and community. Unfortunately with the acquisition, the bots and ads have decreased the quality of the app, but even still, the platform is a primary resource utilized among the professionals. Personally, I follow any account that puts out consistent, interesting content— writers, news publications, magazines, critics (ex. @GuernicaMag, @CTBeiser, @LaModeUnknown, @RollingStone). In addition to following industry specialists, I also like to keep up with any intriguing conversation happening in my scopes of interest.
Create another profile and follow cool accounts.
Scroll and interact with pieces that attract your attention.
When you find yourself disrupted by a thought or idea while scrolling, take the moment to entertain your thought process, and allow yourself to spiral down the rabbit hole.
Rinse, refresh, and happy scrolling!
3. SUBSTACK/MEDIUM
After being on Twitter for a while, I’ve stumbled into the world of journalists who publish independent work off Substack, Medium, or Beehiiv. I tend to follow writers who share their casual thoughts on something they’re passionate about, typically subjects that are pertinent to the state of the current world or a phase of life I’m in and almost always, there will be a slew of other resources attached at the bottom of the page. This supplementary section with links to relevant and digressive material of articles, essays, and podcasts is seemingly unique1 to Substack contributors and exemplifies the author’s impeccable taste.
IT’S 2024. PAYWALLS AREN’T YOUR EXCUSE ANYMORE2
I have qualms with media companies spinning through the never-ending, stoppable cycle of putting up paywalls, fearing their declining revenue, and complaining about the obsolescence of journalism. I know that everyone’s just trying to protect their work and allocate resources accordingly, but when unbiased, consequential information is locked behind a paywall, how can you expect the average American to be well-informed? Not to mention, each publication has different subscription plans and prices, so instead of an individual going through the daunting process of weighing their options, it becomes easier to get less credible, more opinion-based news from free social media platforms, fostering the longest game of telephone with no winner.
Anyway, I don’t want to hear the excuse that you can’t read because it’s a locked article because that’s not true anymore. Here are a few sites to bypass the paywalls:
Or for a DIY project:
Right-click to inspect
Go into the HTML
Remove all the div walls
Enable the page scrolling
Democratize info!
NOW,
I’ve now made it a habit to read at least one article on the daily, even on the days I don’t have time to read. I’m still fulfilling my scrolling compulsion while being exposed to productive material and circulating through new discussions.
Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers, Joe Pinsker
Looking for a shortcut? Here are 50 Categorized Articles
Something else I found unique to Substack is how invasive paywalls are in the community. Not a bad thing, but something interesting to note.
Unless it’s an op-ed.