We live in a digital world. There’s nothing new or novel about that statement. All the media that we could possibly want to consume is available somewhere online. CDs have given way to Spotify. DVDs and VHS tapes have been replaced by streaming services. Cork boards are now Pinterest boards, and pinning up ticket stubs and boarding passes are a thing of the past. The artifacts of our life exist almost entirely in the cloud.
I am 18 years old. Old enough to remember seeing preteen magazines and my mom’s towers of CDs, but young enough to get my news from push notifications and order my Starbucks ahead on the app every time. The digital convenience is great! I wouldn’t survive without my earbuds and my unlimited streaming library of music. I love calling my friends at every minor inconvenience. I love being able to keep tabs on my best friend who moved to Arizona via Instagram. Filling out college applications with the magic of Common App and copy and paste made a stressful process a little easier. The fear of moving so far away for college is eased when I know that my parents will only be a phone call away. I’ll be able to watch my high school friends from afar through social media.
My friends and I grew up watching physical things fade into obscurity as online features took their place. We’ve embraced it, but there’s still this longing for physical items, especially physical media. Every teenager I know owns a polaroid camera. My best friend won’t go anywhere without her film camera in her bag. We want to hold memories in our hands.
Look at the resurgence of vinyl records. Vinyl sales have been trending upwards for seventeen years, skyrocketing in 2020. Paperback books haven’t fallen to ebooks and audiobooks. There’s something to be said for being able to own a copy of the media you consume. When many of us work in front of a computer all day, going home to stare at another screen isn’t always relaxing.
So where do magazines fall into all of this?
Like reading books, magazines give us a break from the online spaces we live in. Holding a magazine and flipping through articles is a conscious choice. In my short time at Albuquerque the Magazine, I’ve learned about restaurants, shops, and events I wouldn’t have found out about otherwise. Social media is a great way to find out about local happenings, but social media algorithms are incredibly personalized. As hard as we may try, we’re stuck in echo chambers on Instagram and TikTok, making it more difficult and laborious to branch out. Magazines cover a wide range of viewpoints, areas, and people, even within a certain niche. –Addie Siembieda
