THE PACK RIDERS LIST
THE PACK refused email-marketing for 9 years with its community. Here’s why we’re changing our mind:
When THE PACK launched in 2017, we made a deliberate decision: we would not do email marketing. At the time, it felt like the right call. Email was noisy and pushy in our opinion. Full of tactics designed to extract clicks rather than build trust. We didn’t want to be that publication. We wanted readers to come to us because they wanted to, not because their inbox was hijacked.
So we focused on stories. On brands, builders, engineers, startups, and riders quietly doing meaningful work. What we didn’t do was build a direct line to readers. We relied on social media platforms to carry the signal, never knowing who actually received it, or who disappeared when algorithms changed. And for a long time, that felt enough. But looking back now, it’s clear: we misunderstood what email could be, and what it actually protects.
What we got wrong?
By avoiding email entirely, we didn’t avoid pushiness, we avoided ownership.
Social platforms gave us reach, sure, but never relationships. They gave us followers, but not continuity. They gave us visibility, until one algorithm change decided otherwise.
Over nine years, THE PACK grew a real audience. People who care deeply about electric motorcycles, innovation, and the future of riding. But we never built a direct way to stay connected to those people outside of platforms we don’t control. That’s on us. Not because email is mandatory, but because community without a direct line is fragile.
Why change now?
Because the industry is maturing and because many of you have told us, directly or indirectly, that you want a more reliable way to stay connected to THE PACK without depending on algorithms to decide what matters. We should have given you that option earlier.
Big Tech
We also need to be honest about something bigger: the concentration of power in Big Tech. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn have helped us reach readers, but they ultimately control distribution, visibility, and continuity. That influence shapes public conversation more than we’re comfortable with. THE PACK does not want its future, or its community, at the mercy of shifting algorithms and corporate priorities. Our goal is simple: build a direct, reader-supported channel strong enough that we can step away from platform dependency altogether. Independence isn’t symbolic. It’s structural. And it starts with owning our connection to you.
If you’ve followed THE PACK for years, this is simply another place for that relationship to live—one we should have built sooner. Nine years taught us what stories are worth telling. Now it’s time to make sure they actually reach the people who care about them.
THE PACK Riders List
We’ve opened THE PACK Riders List: a direct, opt-in channel for readers who want to follow THE PACK without filters. No promises on frequency, no fluff. Just signal. Algorithms shouldn’t decide who stays connected. THE PACK Riders List is our new way out for our readers.