In a world where technology is moving at a pace that feels highly unpredictable, it isn’t surprising that people are going old school. It’s why dumb phones are on the rise and it's why handheld cameras, heralded for their aesthetic, have seen a resurgence in contemporary camera culture.

While many thought print media was down and out, it's actually experiencing its own reckoning of sorts. According to The Published Audience Measurement Company (PAMCo), print media reached an estimated average of 30 million monthly consumers and 12 million daily consumers from June 2021 to September 2022.

For magazines specifically, but also subcultures more generally, social media is becoming the middleman and upping the print game. It’s become the conduit through which people discover niche interests and watch video essays or join group chats to discuss them. Social media platforms are now the launching point – and not the ending place – for the print media resurgence.

In her newsletter, Embedded, Kate Lindsay interviewed Kelsey Russell who posts videos on TikTok of herself reading The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and various local publications. “I’ve been influenced I got a print copy of the post today” one comment reads.

In other cases, magazines are kindling the fire that is nostalgia. On TikTok users laugh at the ridiculousness of magazines from the early aughts. Playboy posts to their 700,000 followers, flipping through old publications from decades past and encouraging users to “comment your birthday month & year to see your magazine.”

Some social media users are even posting magazine recommendations whereas others post hauls and unboxings, or give tips on the best spots in London or New York that carry the widest selection of publications. It seems as if print is back and better than ever.

As this shift sets in audiences far and wide are going out and buying print media. In the UK 58% of consumers surveyed prefer reading magazines in print rather than online, and overseas in the US about 1 in 4 American adults buys a print newspaper.

With this print media comeback, a number of titles shuttered in recent times have been given a new lease of life. Paper Magazine, founded in the 1980s, is resuming operations after temporarily stopping in May 2023. And music and pop culture magazine NME is coming back to print as well.

It's refreshing to see consumers old and young seeking out print media on their own. Not only does it foster a sense of community-based autonomy outside of digital ecosystems, but it also allows people to come together around shared interests and tangible passion pursuits. Print media is still alive and kicking, and hopefully, it’ll stick around for the foreseeable future.