Late last year, I realized that I was following too many things. Not just accounts on Twitter or Instagram, but also when it came to subscribing to newsletters, podcasts, blogs, whatever. The number of content channels available to individuals has increased in multiples over the past few years – creating a very noisy environment. Put that together with an intense FOMO, which most of us suffer from, and the situation is ripe for a deteriorating content consumption experience.

I spent most of the early 2010’s deep in #menswear content and it was easy to follow because blogs like A Continuous Lean, Die Workwear, and Sartorially Inclined would curate out links to similar content, essentially aggregating the “vibe” I was yearning for. Of course these sites didn’t create #menswear, that was from the vibrant community of Tumblrs all curating the internet – and it worked well because it was in a single place, aggregating. Fast forward 10 years and now I can subscribe to multiple newsletters, podcasts, twitter feeds, IG “moodboards”, in addition to what already existed.

With all the spare time we have lately, I’ve had a chance to do a bit of inventory and cut back on what I’m consuming. Through the process I came across an annoying discovery. There was substantial overlap of the multiple sources of information I was consuming. An article I read in one, was usually in two other newsletters, or the same picture on twitter, instagram, and on tumblr.

it is a LAW that every Instagram "image archive" account must post this photo one (1) time pic.twitter.com/Kf1rKJVPrQ

— Jacob Gallagher (@jacobwgallagher) May 26, 2020

Of course this made it pretty easy for me to cut out the noise. Across the board I unsubscribed to content that was only 10%, 20%, even 50% useful. Of those that were left, they consistently provided me with Content™️ that I was looking for, the trusted aggregators. These were the newsletters that I wanted in my inbox, the podcasts in my queue, the tweets in my feed. Everything else was pushed off for another time or to a list that maybe I’d get around to if I was bored. So while algorithms are all the rage, nothing beats good ol’ fashioned curation.

With a new podcast or newsletter being created every time a bottle of kombucha is opened in Brooklyn, these aggregators play a significant and important role in keeping us sane.

While we’re here, below are some of my favorites –

Lean Luxe 〜 Maekan 〜 Jacuzzi Club

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🔊 A very smooth italo disco mix, perfect for welcoming the warmer weather.