How To Find Good Articles

The internet unquestionably has masses of content that is enjoyable to read. But there is also a fair amount of clickbait rubbish. How do you find the content that is worth reading while avoiding all the low-effort articles?

Here are some of the best places on the web to find thoughtful and engaging articles.

1. Longform

Longform is an article curation service. It recommends both new and classic non-fiction articles from a variety of different online sources.

It encourages submissions from its engaged community of readers, thus giving rise to a diverse and delightful selection of articles that are suggested on any given day. Furthermore, it also accepts readers' own work, though the work has to pass through a strict editorial filter before it is recommended on the site.

The core focus of the Longform site is non-fiction, though a spinoff fiction service launched in 2012 has become perennially popular.

Sections on the site include Arts, Business, Crime, History, Politics, Science, Sex, Sports, Tech, and World. Make sure you also check out the "Best Of" annual archive for a rich trove of suggestions from bygone years.

2. Longreads

Another of the most popular article curation sites is Long reads. It is a direct competitor of Longform. The site is dedicated to "helping people find and share the best storytelling in the world".

There are 11 categories for you to dig into. They are Crime Reporting, Business Writing, Food, Music Writing, Sports and Games, Writing on COVID-19, Science and Nature, Arts and Culture, Profiles, Essays, and Investigative Reporting.

The site also produces its own stories (often revolving around gun violence, genocide, and environmental destruction), with the work funded by its membership pass. The membership costs $5/month, $50/year, or $100 for a lifetime pass.

And in case you still doubt the quality of the work on Longreads, be aware that it has been nominated for four National Magazine Awards and has been highlighted as a quality source by both the Online News Association and the Peabody Awards.

3. The Browser

The Browser sifts through hundreds of articles every day to bring you the finest content from across the web in the form of a newsletter. All the content is handpicked.

The newsletter itself offers five articles per day, and subscribers will also get access to a daily podcast and a daily video. Once a week, you get a roundup of the best articles of the entire week and a roundup of the best podcasts of the week.

Two plans are available. You can either pay $5/month or $48/year. A free preview is offered, so you try out the service before you commit.

4. r/InDepthStories

Reddit has no shortage of enjoyable content posted across its thousands of Subreddits. But as any Reddit user will know, there is also an enormous number of poor submissions that you should not waste your time with.

If you are specifically interested in long-form journalism, you should subscribe to the r/InDepthStories Subreddit. It started life as a forum for investigative journalism, but has since grown to become a repo of all forms of high-quality long-form content.

Standards are kept high by the Subreddits mods, who rule with an iron fist. Anything that is not considered long-form will be removed, and they also do not allow political long-form articles. The ban on political content might seem Draconian, but it is done to keep the community civilized and make sure the comments on each article remain focused and thoughtful.

5. Pocket

Pocket is best known as a read-it-later bookmarking service. By using browser extensions or mobile apps, you can save stories that interest you and revisit them later when you have time to give them your full attention.

However, Pocket also offers a list of curated stories for you to read. Stories are partially sourced by the company's own editorial team, but are also pulled from the content that its users are saving most frequently on a given day.

The main section focuses on "essential reads", however, there are also subcategories for topics such as business, career, education, self-improvement, tech, personal finance, science, food, health and fitness, entertainment, and more.

All the stories on Pocket has pros and cons, but at least all the recommended stories are free to read

6. CoolTools: The Best Magazine Articles Ever

If you want to delve into some of the most iconic and memorable magazine articles from all time, check out The Best Magazine Articles Ever subsection of CoolTools is a great place to start your journey.

The list is based on suggestions by readers and is not vetted, but there is still a tremendous amount of fantastic long-form content for you to enjoy.

The best part is The Top 25 Articles list. It rounds up some of the best articles going back as far as the 1960s. Some of the pieces that have made the cut include 1996's Mother Earth, Mother Board: Wiring the Planet by Neal Stephenson in Wired, and 1971's Secrets of the Little Blue Box by Ron Rosenbaum in Esquire.

You can also use the filters to browse by decade. The 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and 2010s are all available.

7. Medium

Medium is a social journalism platform that launched back in 2012. It offers content from a mix of professional journalists and writers, as well as amateur writers who want to discuss a topic in which they are an expert.

Users can subscribe to writers or topics that they are interested in to curate their own feed of relevant content, but Medium also offer browsable sections in case you want to digest something that is outside of your usual wheelhouse.

Although you can read some content for free, Medium is designed as a paid platform. It costs $5/month or $50/year, and you get unlimited access to every story with no ads or additional paywalls. Check out our article if you want to get started on Medium today.

8. MakeUseOf

Come on; you've got to let us have this shameless plug! If you want to read the best how-to articles, reviews, listicles, buying guides, and more, you're already on the right site.

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