From cave paintings to smoke signals. Carrier pigeons to telegraphs. Pony Express to Facebook. Humans have always been looking for new and better ways to communicate.
Through it all, one ancient form of communication has remained steadfast and true, the newsletter.
The Romans started the very first newsletter at the cradle of civilization to educate its citizenry. Since then, it has been used by every country, organization, and ideological group for almost a thousand years. Believe it or not, The oft-mocked and maligned newsletter is the precursor to newspapers, television, and even modern-day social media.
In an article for The Atlantic, blogging expert and internet guru, Dave Pell explained, "People don't understand the expanse of the platform. In 2020, 14 million customers of a single email platform called Mailchimp sent out 333 trillion newsletters driving $64 Billion in revenue."
"Moreover, Intuit recently acquired Mailchimp for $12 billion. Substack (a subscription newsletter service) raised another $65 million in its most recent round of funding, all while Twitter was acquiring a newsletter company called Revue. Even tech behemoth Google sees the trend and is testing a new newsletter service called Museletter."
ALL HAIL THE NEWSLETTER!
In an era filled with countless ways to reach out and touch someone, how has the simple newsletter not only survived but thrived?
You could say it is small and quickly digestible. You could say that it is patient and will wait as long as it takes to be read. You could even say that it is curated content that is meaningful and helpful to you. And you would most certainly be right. But that's not the real reason.
Newsletters connect us with a community of like-minded people who share our interests, values, and dreams.
In an ever-connected world, it seems as if we are growing more disconnected. The newsletter serves as a reminder that there are others like you and that you are not alone.
Now more than ever, the newsletter is needed and relevant.
My daily conversations with music teachers often speak of fatigue, frustration, and a sense of failure. I repeatedly hear that they are teaching harder than ever and are struggling to keep up. They survived the pandemic but are struggling with the recovery. Where appropriate, I offer my thoughts and a sympathetic ear. But, I know that is not what they want.
They want to know that they are not alone. They are not the only ones feeling frustrated and helpless. They don't read about it in the newspaper – or get calls from equally angst-filled colleagues. There aren't podcasts to placate, and everyone's social media feed gushes with joyous proclamations of success-filled concerts, events, and seasons. We as a people and as a profession, celebrate in public and struggle in silence. Yes, we all have some GREAT days. But, we also all have had BAD days. And in both, we all want to know that we are not alone.
The purpose of a newsletter is to foster a sense of community in good times and in bad. So for today, let this newsletter do just that. Let it remind you that you are not alone.
-Scott