Announcing a new referral campaign for our weekly newsletter
It’s hard to find reliable information on Long COVID, COVID-19, and related chronic diseases. Mainstream media sources mostly refuse to cover these diseases — and when they do, the stories are often dismissive or outright disinformation. Social media algorithms don’t promote these posts, online communities are plagued by bad actors. Politicians and public health officials insist the pandemic is long “over” even as cases are rising yet again.
The Sick Times cuts through that noise by producing and sharing independent, community-driven journalism about Long COVID and the ongoing pandemic. As social media platforms and search engines become even less reliable, we are encouraging readers to sign up for our newsletter to make sure that they don’t miss our original stories — and share the newsletter with their friends and community members.
You don’t need to worry about an algorithm preventing you from seeing the latest important news about a new clinical trial or new SARS-CoV-2 variant when you receive our newsletter directly in your email inbox every Tuesday. Each week, it covers research news, COVID-19 trends, advocacy alerts, links out to other COVID-informed writers, personal stories and opinions from people most impacted by the Long COVID crisis, and more.
To help us grow our newsletter, we’re trying out a referral program. We think this will make it easier for readers like you to share the newsletter with other community members. But we need your help to test it out!
Here’s how it works: you can sign up to the program at this page. Then, you’ll get a customized newsletter sign-up link you can share with friends, family members, neighbors, your medical providers, and so on. You can send it to them directly in an email or text, post it on social media, or share it in any other way you prefer.
If you’re successful in helping friends and community members sign up for our newsletter, we will say thank you by sending you rewards. Here’s what we have planned so far:
- With one successful referral, you’ll receive a thank-you note from our team.
- With five referrals, we will mail you a pack of Sick Times stickers*, designed by artists in the Long COVID community.
- With ten referrals, we will mail you a Sick Times hat!*
- With twenty referrals, you’ll be invited to a one-on-one Q&A call with one of our editors, Miles and Betsy.
*While supplies last.
With this referral campaign, we are aiming to gain 1,000 new newsletter subscribers over the next ten days. If it’s successful, we will keep the referral program going over the coming months.
Help champion our journalism by sharing The Sick Times!
If you aren’t already a newsletter subscriber, sign up here to join the referral program. If you are, check your inbox — you will receive your referral link in today’s newsletter.
