What is Get Better?
Oh yeah, blogs SHOULD have mission statements
Thank you for reading!
A TL;DR — this is a space focused on how we can get better. Individually and as different communities. Online and IRL. It’s written by a journalist-by-training who’s dedicated a year to getting healthier and recalibrating life. I’ve been joyfully using internet technology and bending my own media diet along the way.
This blog has two primary areas of focus:
Getting Better (you, me, us!)
Creating better versions of media and information products on the Internet to help
I jumped the typical Substack introduction process with my essay on the 5-year anniversary of living with Long Covid. Now, starting next week, I'll be posting 1-2 times weekly on those two topics above.
Why I believe in the internet …
I’m a proud member of a generational micro-cohort that is alternately recognized as Gen Y, Elder Millennials, Geriatric Millenials 😳 , the Oregon Trail generation, etc.
As my friend Trei Brundrett said in announcing his new role at New Public, I *also* feel “privileged to be of the generation that didn't have the internet, and then had the internet — sort of straddling it.”
For me that meant AOL chat rooms, Fark —> Digg —> Reddit. StumbleUpon turning into Tumblr dashboards. Google Reader/Feedly ingesting so many Wordpress and Medium blog RSS feeds. And so many different wonderful aggregators over the year. Social feeds and stories. And, lately, so many more group DMs, Slacks and Discords.
You can look at my NYT bio page and see me tinkering to come up with new products. Curating right/left/center opinion, digging up archived content, road-testing some story formats for self improvement to create our Smarter Living vertical.
I love to use the internet to learn. And get better.
What does ‘Get Better’ mean?
It means different things at different times:
Physical and mental wellness (which helped me navigate Long Covid)
Learning practical skills to fix things around the house (thank you, YouTube tutorials!)
Finding community (Instagram, WhatsApp broadcast channels)
Spiritual journeys and mindfulness practices
Thrifting, upcycling and mutual aid groups (From Craigslist to Facebook Marketplace to Discord!)
Hobbies like gardening, painting and sports.
All of these are possible without the internet, but I've found them made easier with the help of online communities and yes, even AI co-pilots.
The future of media and information products
What makes for better media and information products? To start — I already love and deeply enjoy so many existing tools and platforms.
I'm a long-time RSS junkie and hoarder of great journalism and reads in the save-for-later app, Pocket. For years, I've used these tools to curate, collect and consume smart takes, thoughtful research and thorough journalism. So much of that work once lived purely on the web but now exists across social platforms and quasi-social platforms.
But thinking about meaningful work in 2025 and beyond... ground zero is the creator economy.
Despite some hype-cycle puffery, the creator economy is actually 30+ years into existence. I loved it when it was DIY makers prototyping products on Kickstarters and Patreons. And when tastemakers took that energy to Pinterest and Etsy.
Now that the Creator Economy has basically eaten the Media economy, I think our media and information products have some catching up to do. I'm fascinated by:
Direct-to-consumer and B2B innovations
Tools of creation and consumption that enhance rather than exploit
Products I want for myself, my kids, and my parents to become more digitally literate and empowered
The potential of the Fediverse and decentralized software approaches to community governance
I recognize the irony of discussing open protocols on Substack's fairly closed loop system. BUT, but I appreciate the community here. And brands and ideas travel across platforms fairly easily these days. Maybe products will too :)
A little more on Justin’s career (so far!) …
I'm an editor by training who ended up working in strategy, operations and management across 20 years. My focus has been on digital transformation of legacy media organizations — mostly through the lens of audience development at large institutions.
More simply, that has meant making sure the work of my talented colleagues was created in ways that helped people and that it ACTUALLY reached those people.
I was the first SEO editor in a US newsroom when I joined the Washington Post in 2010. I was a part of an amazing generation of curious do-ers who helped steer the The Post towards blogging and social native content.
I joined the NYT in the wake of the Innovation Report and was, again, part of a great generation of talented editors, technologists and news executives. The work we all contributed to led to a pretty big moment as the company turned a corner towards sustainability. I joined NPR in 2020 in the spirit of the same idea.
Between full-time gigs, I’ve consulted around the world. I’m particularly proud of my long-time affiliation with the folks at Blue Engine, a media transformation accelerator who do good mission-driven work and carry a motto of expertise without ego.