Longreads Joins the Automattic Family
We’re delighted to announce that Longreads is joining the Automattic family.
Today we’re excited to announce that we are acquiring Longreads, the pioneering service that helps readers find and share the best longform storytelling around the world, for reading on mobile devices.
Over the last five years, Longreads and its community have created a new ecosystem for readers to find great in-depth stories, and for writers and publishers to distribute their best work over 1,500 words. Longreads will continue to do what it does best — recommending stories from across the Internet — and we are excited to have them join the WordPress.com team and continue in their commitment to serving readers.
Mobile reading and the appetite for longform content
As consumption has moved to mobile devices, there has been a growing hunger for longform content: phones and tablets are perfect for enjoying in-depth articles, and there are more moments than ever for readers to dig into a story — on a commute, on the couch, or just waiting in line at the store.
Social recommendation plays a big part, too: use of the #longreads hashtag on Twitter has grown more than 130% over the last two years, and more publishers than ever are committing resources to in-depth storytelling as part of their daily mix of stories.
A bright future for independent publishers who focus on quality
We are entering a new era for independent writers and publishers to embrace depth and quality, and WordPress.com is committed to empowering these creators — not just through tools and services that make the most of these evolving formats, but through community, distribution, and new ways to have your best work seen by millions of people across a wide range of diverse tastes and topics.
We are excited to have the Longreads team work on these challenges and opportunities as a part of the Automattic family.
- April 9, 2014
- Automattic, Community
WordPress.com News 
This sounds great! I didn’t even know about Longreads until today and I’ve already found useful resources on the platform thus far.
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I haven’t used Longreads yet, but this commitment to quality in-depth stories is very much welcome! Thanks!
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Big news! It’ll be interesting to see what y’all do with the platform.
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I did not even know it existed. Thanks for the info.
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Depth and quality – excellent!
I worry about the narrow veneer that social media promotes.
Everything reduced, pared down to sound bites and memes and characters and a new, truncated, ugly language.
‘Dig In’ indeed!
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I’m curious now that WordPress has acquired Longreads, does one still have to subscribe directly to them? I clicked on the link in your article and it looks as though you do. Is there a way to just follow them through our Reader?
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Not yet, but we will be working on that! Excited for what’s next.
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Me too! Thanks for such a quick response. 🙂
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That’s great! More reasons to stay with WordPress! This is home.
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“….. a wide range of diverse tastes and topics”?
Sounds interesting. It is good to know that mobile reading of such longform good quality story telling is being promoted..
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Great to know that Brevity isn’t always key… Laugh Out Loud..!
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A new emphasis on longer stories will be beneficial. I’ll have to check out the Longreads site and see what subjects seem to be most popular, and whether they publish both fiction and nonfiction or not.
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Wow. Just found out about Longreads and so curious to try it out.
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Reblogged this on georgialeesays and commented:
So glad to see a format that accepts the long form fiction. I found out word-count limitations the hard way, after laboring on a 10,000 word story for a year, attempting to edit, and only making it longer and then, nowhere to send it. Longreads is a welcome addition.
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