Alt:Mag Is Three Years Old!

Happy birthday to Alt:Mag!!!!!!!! Yes, that many exclamation marks is against my OCD editing rules, but forget it, because we are three years old today. I thought I'd make a post in celebration, like I did in previous years. I'm not good with long speeches, but I'll try my best to write something of note.

I was putting together a portfolio of work for a Writing for the Media assignment recently, in which I was allowed to submit an Alt:Mag article. To accompany this, I had to write a thing called a 'rationale', which is basically a document explaining why you chose to write your article in the way you did. The most interesting thing I had to mention though, was who Alt:Mag's target market is and why we aim our content at them. It was definitely a tricky task coming up with the answer to this, but after some thought, I finally came up with this:

Alt:Mag is a website aimed mainly at teenagers and young adults whose interests may fall on what might be seen as the less conventional side of life, away from what might be considered ‘normal’ by society, specifically 'geek' and 'nerd' culture. The aim of the site is to create an amusing and friendly yet interesting and informative environment for readers to celebrate their hobbies and interests rather than feeling embarrassed or alone about them.

The fact that I had to think long and hard about Alt:Mag's identity just shows that although this website has existed for such a long time (well, I didn't think it'd be going for this long!), we are still growing, expanding and finding our identity each and everyday.

Speaking of growing, Alt:Mag's views have been growing and it doesn't look like they are going to stop any time soon. On the 30th of October, the website reached 100,000 views (more information here). I keep needing to repeat that, or at least spell it out for myself, just so I can get my head around it. One hundred thousand people have viewed our website. I don't even know if its possible to meet that many people in a lifetime. Either way, I hope you know that each and every one of you is important and that your views are all appreciated so much. I wish I could take time out to hang out and spend some time to get to know each and every one of you. Let's grab pizza sometime or play Goldeneye 007 or something. Hey, if you enjoy the site, just let us know by Facebook or Twitter, we'd love to chat to you about your interests, remember we're just like you!

So take a load off this Sunday. Chill out and play some games, watch a movie, watch some anime. Do whatever you like, and be proud of it. Because as long as you have interests that make you happy, we want to support them and continue to write articles about them. Thank you to all those who have contributed over the years, in particular, our team of incredible writers, you guys are the best!!!

Signing out,

Lewis Cox

Alt:Mag Editor