Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
With every passing day, the internet grows exponentially further away from the early days. As an example, in 1994 there were 2,738 websites on the internet. For context, there are currently (at least) 1.7 billion websites – which is growing every single second – occupying the same space. That is 620,891 times what we had 26 years ago!
The phrase “global village” may harken back to A-Level Media Studies for some of us, but it is a vision of an interconnected world that can be read, if you choose to, as an outdated and classist term that doesn’t comment on the social divides that still stop a large percentage of the world’s population from being online.
It has all grown far beyond what people thought possible in the heady days of the early 90s, and with that growing cacophony of noise, finding an audience can be tricky, even on social media. Not everyone has a Twitter account (330 million monthly active users) or even a Facebook profile (2.5 billion monthly active users), but there are 5.93 billion email addresses floating around the globe. That is where the newsletter comes in. With its direct-to-consumer model, companies, people and everyone in-between can, if you subscribe, contact you directly in the most sacred of spaces: your email inbox.
As with any form of media, the newsletter can be about anything. Companies use them to inform their staff about goings-on from within, but we aren’t here to talk about that. We’re here to talk about the personal newsletter, the podcast of writing. If you know about them, they are the biggest thing, but your Nana has no idea how to spell it, let alone subscribe to it.
We have scoured the internet and found a handful of newsletters that will have you wanting to check your email, a rare occurrence, we think you’ll find.
Sentences by Darcie Wilder
A simple letter that brings multiple interesting articles into your inbox in the form of Darcie Wilder’s favourite sentences and non-sequiturs from them. An unpretentious collection that sits perfectly alongside Literally Show Me A Healthy Person, Darcie Wilder’s 2017 debut novel, a 97-page experimental piece that does away with form and all that you know a novel can be to focus on the words, one sentence at a time.
Hannah Witton
Check your inboxes folks! This week’s newsletter has just been sent out! 💌 https://t.co/09SY7rehSf pic.twitter.com/TPveA3UxgE
— Hannah Witton (@hannahwitton) May 15, 2020
Hannah Witton started her newsletter as a way to cut through the algorithmic problems that creators can face, especially ones like her, who make sex and relationship-related content.
With each week’s newsletter, you’ll get all this and more:
- Behind the scenes project developments
- A sexuality resource
- A currently reading/watching/listening to recommendation
- Personal thoughts/feelings/emotions
Added with that, each month you will get a downloadable sex and feminist-themed colouring page – Sexy Scribbles are a real thing! It’s a real insight into an online creator, getting to see more facets of them in new and interesting formats.
The Snoot Letter
"The Snoot Letter" is my weekly newsletter about film, technology, and culture. You can subscribe here! https://t.co/aoWy2FSwZ6
— Keith Calder (@keithcalder) October 5, 2019
Snoot Entertainment is a film production company created by husband and wife duo, Keith and Jess Calder. They’ve been responsible for films such as Blindspotting, Anomalisa and The Guest.
In this namesake newsletter, Keith showcases his thoughts about culture, technology and society and all that they give us. As an added bonus, the recommendations in this newsletter are second to none. Each letter has something to watch that will get you thinking.
5 Bullet Fridays by Tim Ferriss
Each Friday, Tim Ferriss, “The Superman of Silicon Valley” and author of the 4 Day Work Week, sends out the five coolest things he’s come into contact with over the last seven days. It could be anything from gadgets, albums, articles and much, much more. It’s a good place to look for topics of conversation for your friends and relatives on the countless Zoom calls we’re sure you’ve been partaking in.
Infinite Football
Hi! I launched a soccer newsletter about sweaters and statistics a couple months ago. The response has blown me away, so I'm gonna try to turn it into a sustainable project. Today, I'm launching subscription-only content! https://t.co/N32170MuUs
— Ryan O'Hanlon (@rwohan) February 15, 2019
Ryan O’Hanlon, a passionate American, talks about football (European style) far better than most British football fans would have you believe possible. He talks about the game in this twice weekly newsletter like few others, answering the questions you didn’t know you wanted the answers to, like “How did Alphonso Davies go from MLS winger to world-class fullback all before his 20th birthday?” The answers to all posited questions are filled with stats and graphs to give us the raw data, giving us evidence that, in fact, Alphonso Davies is that good.
A must read for football fans.
So there you have it…
Just five newsletters we here at TenEighty HQ think you should check out. Considering the majority of us are still cooped up at home, they’re the perfect way to pass the time and add some joy to our now (somewhat) mundane day-to-day lives!
Want more? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered:
- 8 Podcasts You Should Be Listening To In Quarantine
- 7 Ways to Get Your Theatre Fix During Lockdown
- Our 8 Favourite Moments From Oliver Ormson’s Good Morning, World!
- 6 Times The Anna Edit Gave Us Major Style Envy
- Our 6 Favourite Tessa Violet Moments
For updates follow @TenEightyUK on Twitter or like TenEighty UK on Facebook.
