An Argument for Gift Guides
Why I love gift guides and link roundups
Hello fellow gift guide lovers, and haters who I hope to convert by the end of this post.
Back in ye olde blogging days, I recall people mocking women for what they wrote on their blogs. I’m starting to see that again, but with newsletters, particularly in regards to gift guides and link roundups.
Similar to blogging, the conversation is about money, specifically affiliate links, which, sure, there’s a conversation to be had there. But are you subscribed to someone’s newsletter who’s just trying to get you to buy things so that they can make money? I’m not. I barely have time to read all the newsletters I like! I’m not making time for ones I don’t.
Also, women are allowed to make money off their work.
Anne Helen Petersen wrote a great Culture Study recently about gift guides and link roundups. She went in deep, so please go read the whole piece. She spoke positively about gift guides, saying:
I was so happy to read that because I feel the same way and AHP said it in a much smarter way than I would have been able to. I enjoy reading everyone’s gift guides and link recommendations. Maybe it’s because I’m on OG blogger and I’ve been reading (and writing) lists like this for so long. Like AHP points out, gift guides didn’t start because everyone has a newsletter. She shows magazines from the ‘80s that had gift guides in them.
My biggest takeaway from AHP’s piece is how these gift guides and link roundups demonstrate trust between the writer and reader. I know for myself, I am more online than most of my friends. I also consume more books, TV shows and podcasts than most people I know. Obviously a level of taste comes into play, but for the most part, people are trusting me to say, ‘I read/watched/heard it all and here’s what’s worth paying attention to.’
Am I wrong sometimes? Of course. Do I have niche taste in certain areas? Yes. But I’m a strong writer and I’m entertaining. I’m counting on that to pull me through when I would otherwise lose people.
Overconsumption, consumerism: of course those are real problems. But I wonder if we’re applying those descriptors onto ourselves too harshly just because they’re buzzwords right now. I love shopping recommendations, and I don’t over-consume.
Also, it is very hard to shop as a plus-size person, so the recommendations from Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay are a godsend for me. I also follow Jasmine Guillory on Instagram and she has the best recommendations for dresses and cozy blankets in her stories. I don’t buy all of it, but I love to see it and think about it.
Here are some great gift guides I’ve read recently:
Put Your Money Where Your Loved One’s Mouth Is by Helen Rosner for The New Yorker
Nine Gifts by Julia Turshen
An Audacious Gift Guide by Roxane Gay
The Stacks 2024 Gift Guide by Traci Thomas
Phil's gift guide for esoteric boyfriends by Fran Hoepfner
Best Purchases of 2024, Worst Purchases of 2024, and What's On My Black Friday List by Amy, my former Joy the Baker co-guest blogger
So, what say you? Do you like link roundups? Do you appreciate gift guides this time of year? If you’ve seen any good ones, let me know. Comments are open to everyone.
I love a gift guide. I’ve gotten several from people I follow and I haven’t bought anything from any of them. It’s possible to look at pretty things without bringing them into your house. Thanks for linking the ones you did. It’s going to be a cold, rainy day here so it’s more coffee and pretty things for me.
I love it when someone had tried a product, loves it & recommends it. Do I buy stuff I don’t need? Sure, but doing it less & less.
Then there’s the influencers who shill thing after thing after thing. That’s exhausting. Plus, no one wants or needs a home full of cheap Amazon stuff, Bezos is awful & doesn’t need more money.