Originally published at: Meet Slowtwitch+. Here’s What to Expect - Slowtwitch News
Later today, March 3rd, you will notice a few changes to the Slowtwitch site. These are changes that we’ve been working for over a year on, and we’re pretty proud to launch.
For over two decades, we here at Slowtwitch have endeavored to create a space where fierce, independent story-telling can exist. In a media landscape littered with content that doesn’t dig beneath the surface, Slowtwitch and its writers have dug trenches. From Dan’s innovations and expertise in bike fit to Jordan’s experiences as a pro triathlete to my run business background (and the countless others who have graced our digital pages), we’ve been able to deliver unique content unlike any other in endurance sports. And that’s why we’re lucky to have so many of you join us either on the home page or in the Slowtwitch Forums — either as an active community member or as a reader. For 23 plus years this site has solely existed because of readers, partners, and contributors. It’s been a labor of love by all.
To keep things moving forward and heading in the right direction we’re now taking the next step in our journey. We’re proud to announce Slowtwitch+ — a premium content experience that will allow us to go deeper than ever before.
What Slowtwitch+ is Not
We aren’t cutting off what you the reader have generally have had for free for all this time. This is not a traditional paywall. Understanding that our business model needed to adapt to fit the current media landscape, we knew we needed to balance our financial needs and not having a hard line in the sand. Slowtwitch+ is our way of doing that. It’s important for us to remain as “free” as possible.
Unlike other sites that only allow for a few free articles, we will continue to have many articles that are free for anyone to read. These articles will include articles about our partners, articles that we deem important for our community to read, and general news articles. In other words, it’s much of what our community has come to expect on this site. When it comes to our forum, it’s much the same — things will not change much for non-plus users. Perhaps the biggest change is that a few categories of our forum will become only open to Slowtwitch+ members.
In other words: if you decide that Slowtwitch+ isn’t for you, great! Your user experience doesn’t really change as most of our traditionally produced content will remain free.
Who and What Slowtwitch + is For
We’ve designed Slowtwitch+ for the serious reader and active forum user. We have hundreds of thousands of unique users that come to the site every month. We have the need for more content every day. Our users are looking for more, and we want to give it to them. Slowtwitch+ is a membership experience for both the front-page and forum that will give those users who are searching for more.
Members will receive all of the content that we produce. You’ll hear from industry experts to very talented community members, all share their truths and stories here. Slowtwitch+ members also receive a banner ad-free experience. The removal of ads will also allow for users to have a wider, more visual story experience as removing ads will allow for more usable space within the desktop view. Membership will unlock benefits in our forum as well. Slowtwitch+ members will be identified with a ST+ icon, not dissimilar to a verified badge on other social media platforms. It helps build trust within our community as the icon will help denote our most serious and active users. As an example, it should give a better experience for buying and selling within the classifieds.
Members will have more input on what they want to get from our emails — you’ll be able to select the frequency and type of content you’ll receive, such as our traditional Weekly Update, Breaking News newsletters, and more. Our podcast is coming back and we are committed to it weekly but it will also be a “+” feature. And, for the first time, we’re going physical media: Slowtwitch+ members will receive Slowtwitch Press our print issue four times per year. The first of these will ship later this spring.
So, in summary:
- No banner ads
- Quarterly issues of the new Slowtwitch Press
- Access to more than 90 articles/month
- Access to our weekly podcast
- Exclusive deals in our shop
- Exclusive deals from Slowtwitch partners
In short, Slowtwitch+ will allow us to continue to provide in-depth reporting across the multisport world, without having to relay solely on endemic brands and partners to do all the heavy lifting. From product reviews to interviews to the politics of race permitting to worldwide event coverage, Slowtwitch+ unlocks our ability to chase stories, wherever they may go. We’re able to have more contributors than ever join our team to write these stories.
Ultimately, Slowtwitch+ is our way of ensuring that Slowtwitch remains the home of independent story-telling and community hosting that we’ve aspired to be for the last 23 years. We hope you’ll join us for the ride.
Memberships will come in 2 options $6.99/month or $59.99/year USD
