Smorgasbord: on the value of link roundups
When I look back on my own history of sharing things on the internet, link roundups have been a consistent part of my output for more than a decade. Initially, I posted them on my blog, then on a now defunct tumblr (christened Writing and Chats, because those were my favourite things) and then in various iterations of this newsletter. As an internet consumer, I love to click through the odd smorgasbord of tidbits that make up a life. As in, I’ve been cooking this recipe, thinking about this show and worrying about this. There’s an element of nosiness to that of course, but also the thrill of discovery and the appeal of ‘visiting’ another human mind at work.
In a sea of content sorted algorithmically, I find the quirks and complications of a mind at work endlessly comforting. I’ve been reading Jessica Stanley’s roundup for close to a decade and in that time have come to know and enjoy her sensibility. It’s a treat to see her name pop up in my inbox and know that she’s given me a roadmap to explore a bunch of great ideas. Link roundups are the mix tapes of the internet era, a way to immerse yourself in the point of view of another person.They’re also about presenting yourself in a particular way; highlighting the aspects of your complicated humanity that you want to showcase, and hiding the things you prefer to minimise. Mixtapes were traditionally an important step in courting rituals. Link roundups are often about appearing concerned and knowledgeable about the right things, while also showcasing the certain elements of your desired presentation. At its core, we curate our lists to communicate something about who we are. It is, like many things that happen on the internet, a performative practice.
But I still love them. In all aspects of my life, I love a list. While my writing energies are focused on longer scale projects, roundups are easier to compile. It suits my archival mind to sort masses of information into tidy piles. I love the element of discovery, the joy in finding something great and being able to share it. I’m nostalgic for the time before tech giants turned data into gold, when there was more space for internet quirkiness. (I’ve been thinking about this a lot as I work on my next column for rogue on how I was wrong about the internet.) Human beings are more than data. We are not just nodes on a screen, but multifaceted, complicated animals who shouldn’t spend nearly as much time in front of screens as we do. Curation, to me, is about sharing the best bits and saving people time. Link roundups should be a sprinkle of novelty, delight and intellectual stimulation in your inbox.
Years ago, I wrote about my ‘system’ for reading the internet, a smash together of various applications that allow me to filter content from a wide array of sources and create some sort of digital commonplace book using Evernote. When I sit down after work with my instapaper queue, it reads like a newspaper curated just for me. Evernote, together with my monster scrivener files for biographical material and a daily journaling habit, is the starting place for almost everything I write. It is the compost heap from which things grow. In parallel to that process, I curate a smorgasbord of links to things to read, watch, listen to, think about, eat etc.
I’m interested in the analytics too. I suspect like many people, I click lots of worthy links that I don’t always read. They are long, deeply reported and important but I don’t always have time for that. More digestible links, quick things that deliver a consistent dopamine hit of information, delight and novelty, I consume as small intellectual treats throughout the day. I’m curious though, what do you think? Do you read links posts? And more importantly, do you enjoy them?
Link roundups I love:
Jessica Stanley and Ann Friedman are the gold standard. Many writers include a small round up of links at the bottom of their newsletters. I’m thinking of Rosie Spinks, though many creators have started putting them behind paywalls.
I love Cup of Jo’s weekly links.
This piece was interesting too on internet content.
Longreads publishes wonderful reading lists, including one I compiled.
