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We’re not yet two months into 2019, and the year has already seen its share of viral memes: Nancy Pelosi’s State of the Union clap, Bird Box blindfolds, the #10YearChallenge. It’s more proof that memes—those ultra-shareable, customizable images and GIFs that allow different corners of the internet’s hive mind to spread and share an idea or in-joke—have become a mainstay of our social web.

But just where do memes come from and what do they tell us about how we communicate online today? Why have they morphed far beyond their goofy origins to become a tool of both protest and political disinformation? This Sunday, dive into these three smart reads on the impact of memes on our modern online lives.

When Internet Memes Infiltrate the Physical World
An Xiao Mina, The Atlantic

Deplorable frogs and “nasty women” aren’t just online for comic relief. They’re central to how people engage with political issues.

Ermahgerddon: The Untold Story of the Ermahgerd Girl
Darryn King, Vanity Fair

Meet Maggie Goldenberger, who helplessly watched an Internet meme spawn from her awkward adolescent photo. What happens when you unknowingly go viral — and how do you continue to own your story, in real life?

World War Meme
Ben Schreckinger, Politico

A group of anonymous keyboard commandos swarmed the internet for Donald Trump in the run-up to the 2016 election, helping memes from obscure message boards cross over into the mainstream. Their success could change how political campaigns target and influence voters.

Speaking of ideas that spread like wildfire, did you know you that once you’ve saved these articles to Pocket, you can share them with friends? You can also recommend great reads to those who follow you on Pocket. So whether you’re spreading ideas, or just reading about how they spread, enjoy your Sunday reading time!

Have you made progress on a resolution or goal for 2019? If not, you’re in good company. Behavior change can be hard. But fear not: This Sunday, Pocket is here to support you. Jumpstart your progress with three great reads that reveal the underpinnings of procrastination, provide new ways of thinking that can propel you forward, and help you look at a challenge in an entirely new way. Sound refreshing? Put these articles in your Pocket and charge into February with a whole new perspective.

The Ultimate Guide to Becoming Your Best Self: Build your Daily Routine by Optimizing Your Mind, Body and Spirit
Chris Winfield, Medium

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle is credited with these famous words. So rather than do what he’d always done, Chris Winfield decided to take a different path…to listen to Aristotle and establish a positive daily routine. See if the steps and approaches he offers work for you.

How to Beat Procrastination
Caroline Webb, Harvard Business Review

We can look and feel busy, while artfully avoiding the tasks that really matter. And when we look at those rolling, long-untouched items at the bottom of our to-do list, we can’t help but feel a little disappointed in ourselves. We may be programmed to procrastinate, but rest assured, there are solutions.

Inversion: The Crucial Thinking Skill Nobody Ever Taught You
James Clear, JamesClear.com

Mental models are thinking tools that can help us make decisions and solve problems. James Clear shows how you can use a mental model called inversion to upend your normal patterns of thought in order to see a situation from a whole new angle, and possibly take a different action as a result. Who doesn’t like a fresh perspective and a new way to solve a problem?

At Pocket, we aim to reveal and share great writing and thinking from across the web, so that you can benefit from it too. If you want to see even more on this topic, visit http://www.getpocket.com, sign up for an account if you don’t yet have one, and hit the Explore tab to find more great content. Sign up for Pocket Hits to get exceptional content delivered right to your inbox. And follow us on your favorite social platform to see more of what we share and let us know if it’s valuable to you!

Have a peaceful Sunday, from the team at Pocket.

Nothing beats waking up after a night of rest feeling refreshed. Quality sleep helps us recover, grow, and lead a healthier life. Can you count the times you’ve had trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or not getting enough sleep? The new year is a perfect time to learn more about sleep and how to improve your own sleeping habits.

What Happened When I Tried the U.S. Army’s Tactic to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes
Michael Grothaus, Fast Company

The technique has been used to help people fall asleep in the most uncomfortable circumstances, and best of all, it’s said to work for 96% of the people who tried it for six weeks.

While We Sleep, Our Mind Goes on an Amazing Journey
Michael Finkel, National Geographic

Around 3500 B.C., Aristotle wrote an essay wondering why we sleep. For the next 2,300 years, no one had a good answer. It’s only in the past few decades, as imaging machines have allowed ever deeper glimpses of the brain’s inner workings, that we’ve begun to understand the science of sleep.

The Brain Benefits of Deep Sleep—and How to Get More of It
Dan Gartenberg, TED

Deep sleep is the most regenerative stage of sleep, which might help us consolidate our memories and form our personalities. What if technology could help us get more out of it?

So now that ‘sleeping more in 2019’ is one of your new goals, do you know about Pocket’s auto dark mode? If you read in Pocket before bed, turn on auto dark mode from the article view and your articles will display on a dark background at night. As you may know, blue light from mobile screens can interfere with good sleep. So try out auto dark mode and tell us what you think.

Do you have any valuable articles about sleep in your Pocket? Share them with us!

On this week’s IRL: Online Life is Real Life podcast, Manoush Zomorodi dives into a topic near and dear to our hearts: how our reading habits are evolving in the internet age.

There’s no arguing that we’re awash in more content than ever before. And in many ways, that’s an incredibly exciting moment to experience. We have the whole world at our fingertips, waiting to be consumed and explored.

“There’s never been a time before where there are so many amazing, interesting, stories, ideas, and perspectives out there. And the reality is there is more to consume than we probably have the time for.”
Pocket CEO Nate Weiner, IRL Episode 3

But just how well are we processing and engaging with the wealth of content available to us each day? Life on screens tends to reward shallow, hyperactive reading habits, rather than slow and deep ones. The days of sitting down to read a newspaper or book for an extended period of time are becoming rarer. Instead we spend our days scrolling through feeds, opening dozens of tabs that we never seem to get back to, and skimming from one headline to the next. Many of us may feel as though we’re reading in some form all day long, but we’re often devoting less time to focusing, absorbing, and reflecting on what’s in front of us.

As Nate tells Manoush, that’s why we’re so committed to making Pocket the place where you can hold onto the ideas, inspiration, and knowledge that are important to you — and then come back to them later, free from the distractions of the noisy web. We believe that’s what makes Pocket such a welcomed part of our users’ lives — it helps you focus on the things that fascinate you and delivers the satisfaction that deep engagement and focused reading can bring.

“It is so easy to open up Twitter or Facebook or Reddit on my phone, but I never feel good about it after I leave. I never feel fulfilled. But when I actually go, sit down and read something in Pocket, every single time I’m like ‘Man, I need to do that more,’ because you feel like you’ve learned something, or actually used time valuably.”
Pocket CEO Nate Weiner, IRL Episode 3

At Pocket, we want to help you bring back the joy of reading. It’s a place where you save and read the things that are important to you. It’s built by you — for you. Your Pocket is the place where you go to learn and grow, laugh and be inspired, all without distraction. It’s the space for you to capture your favorite content from across the web and come back to it when you’re ready. It’s the feed that helps you feel fulfilled.

Get the new and improved Pocket today on whatever device you have and rediscover the joy of reading.

Want More?

Join Manoush Zomorodi as she explores how the internet has changed reading — and how we’re all changing alongside it — in Mozilla’s IRL podcast.

Listen In

It’s the season of giving and getting, which means you may be unboxing a shiny new device that pairs perfectly with Pocket.

We’ve worked hard to make sure that your Pocket is easy to set up and easy to have with you wherever you are. No matter what new tech you’re unwrapping, here are some quick and simple ways to get reading, listening and enjoying the web with Pocket.

Download the app

When you boot up your new device, your first step is to download the Pocket app. Pocket is available for free on Mac, iOS, Android, Kobo, Fire TV and as an Alexa skill, so you can download it wherever you get apps for your device. It comes pre-installed with Firefox. If you’re lucky enough to be a Firefox user, you’ll find the Pocket icon in the search bar. Simply click on the pocket icon in the address bar, sign in and it’s ready to go. This functionality is also available as a browser extension for Chrome, to save stuff you want to keep while on the web. Once you’ve installed the app, extension or Alexa skill, it’s easy to get connected to your Pocket account. If you’re an existing Pocket user, simply log into your Pocket account. All your saved pocket items will be there waiting for you.

Learn a new skill

With Pocket for Amazon Alexa you can listen to articles that you’ve recently saved to Pocket on your Echo and other devices that have Alexa built-in. To activate the Alexa skill, visit the Pocket skill page for Alexa to enable it. Then you’ll be saying “Alexa, tell Pocket to get articles.” before you know it. You can listen to your saved articles and stories in the kitchen or while you’re wrapping presents.

Discover something new

New to Pocket? You’re in for a treat. This is the time for you to sign up for an account and start enjoying the best the web has to offer. Pocket is a space just for you, so when you see an article or video that catches your eye, or read something you know you want to dive back into, save those items and keep them with you, wherever you go. Sign up for Pocket Hits and have exceptional stories delivered to your inbox.

Whatever tech you’re unwrapping this holiday season, adding Pocket can be the best way for you to collect and enjoy articles, videos and more.

Money does help to turn the wheel of life. It buys necessities, access, and even privilege. But what is wealth? What if you already have wealth—right now—and didn’t realize it? What does access to more money actually buy you? And what might happen if we collectively evolved our definition of wealth to include things that aren’t material—like knowledge or human capacity? Save and read these three articles in Pocket and get a new perspective.

The Price of Happiness: Horizontal vs Vertical Wealth
Charles Chu, Medium

Money can’t buy you happiness—or can it? Charles Chu takes a look at the traits of the wealthiest people he admires, observes different approaches to living, and arrives at an interesting insight.

The 9.9% is the new American Aristocracy
Matthew Stewart, The Atlantic

Contrary to popular myth, economic mobility in the land of opportunity is not high, and it’s going down.

Our attitude towards wealth played a crucial role in Brexit. We need a rethink.
Stephen Hawking, The Guardian

On the heels of Brexit in 2016, physicist Stephen Hawking, who passed away in March, penned an article encouraging people to change their view of wealth and money. “Everything is connected,” he wrote. “If we wish to understand the fundamental nature of the universe, we’d be very foolish to ignore the role that wealth does and doesn’t play in our society.”

Hopefully, these reads give you a fresh perspective and even a new way to think about money, wealth, and how to find happiness. Tell us, what are your goals in the new year?

There’s no way around it. The holidays are hectic. No matter what you’re celebrating or who you are celebrating with, the end of the year is a lot. Here at Pocket, we’d like to share with you some of the ways Pocket can help you with that little bit of extra this holiday. Whether it’s extra knowledge, extra time, extra delays or extra inspiration, we can help.

1. Keep all your holiday ideas in Pocket

There are so many wonderful ways to share the holidays. The internet has made it possible for people everywhere share their creative ways to give, decorate, dine and delight. Which is amazing, but it’s also a lot to keep track of. Pocket can be a home to save and revisit the content you discover around decorating, gift giving, cooking, and hosting.

See some positively delectable sugar cookies on a cooking blog? Save the recipe to Pocket and you can easily pull it up on your phone when you’re in the store trying to remember if you wanted refined or granulated sugar. Build your gift list by saving gift guides from your favorite websites and publications. Get into the holiday spirit by holding on to some of the stories that remind us about the best of humanity and why we celebrate all these holidays in the first place.

2. Use the Pocket listen feature when holiday prep has you busy

It seems like the the only gift we can’t give or get is time. The frenzy of the season can often cut into the things that help us feel calm and centered. Pocket’s listen feature can also help keep you on top of your reading goals even when your hands are busy. While you’re putting up decorations, wrapping gifts or icing your hundredth cookie, listen lets you enjoy the articles and stories you have saved. Or you can enable Pocket’s Alexa skill and ask Alexa to read your saved articles aloud while you’re busy around the house.

3. Turn travel time into quality time

The holidays are full of waiting. Sometimes we’re waiting while we’re in an airport. Sometimes we’re waiting to get back outside if a blizzard rolls in. Sometimes we’re waiting in line to buy gifts or food for a family feast. Catching up on stories in Pocket can help make that wait a better use of your time. If your mother-in-law has terrible wifi or you’re on a plane with no connectivity just sync your Pocket before you enter a dead zone and you’ll have access to all your stories and articles. Pocket can turn that long layover or unexpected delay into an enjoyable experience with our offline reading feature.

4. Let recommendations fuel your holiday conversations

This time of year we do a lot of talking. Whether at holiday parties, family gatherings, volunteering in the community or at school concerts, it’s good to have interesting things to discuss. You can use the content you discover in Pocket to up your holiday party conversation game. We’ve even collected some must reads from this past year to help get you started. If you don’t subscribe to Pocket Hits, it’s our weekly newsletter of exceptional content surface by Pocket’s community. Check out the Firefox new tab for even more great content recommendations.

If you’re considering spending your time more intentionally in 2019, spending less time scrolling and more time fueling your mind, Pocket is a great companion to help you focus on the things that matter to you.

We wish you all the best this holiday season!
From Team Pocket