October 14, 2008
| Minilogue >>
VSL2
Follow-up: I feel like Very Short List is a proxy for The Daily Beast — not because they’re trying to do the same thing exactly, but because they’re trying to do the same thing generally, are both good-enough ideas that seem fairly well-executed, are both weird web offshoots of the old-school Manhattan mediaplex, were both initiated by larger-than-life magazine editors, etc., etc.
(To be fair, VSL distinguishes itself by being a small, focused operation. Contrast to my main critique of The Daily Beast: What am I supposed to look at on this page??)
Sooo, is VSL actually doing well? Any clues? Do you subscribe? I used to, but found myself deleting the emails without opening them, so eventually gave up on it.
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I subscribe to VSL. I don't agree with them all the time - I think they try mighty hard to be hip. Like my momma says, if you get a cookbook with one good recipe it is a plus, and VSL is good often enough for me to keep getting it.
The scuttle around town is that it's doing quite well financially. And everyone seems to have it on their radar, so I think it has some audience penetration.
Personally, I'm sometimes surprised by its ability to introduce me to something new. I expected it to be a newsletter of things-we-already-knew-about (but which makes us happy cuz by reinforcing our coolness -- like reading Entertainment Weekly). Instead, I'd say at least half of the items are new to me.
I hear others complain this its high-brow and dry, but I could actually use a dose of high-brow in my life.
While I don't doubt Rex's scuttlebutt, I am a little surprised. The ad space in most of the VSL emails I get is filled by ads for BustedTees, which -- if I'm not mistaken -- is another arm (or finger or something) of the same IAC/Dillerplex.