Fast Company

As someone who is not aggressive unless necessary, I ended up passively standing outside the mass of people surrounding the table of magazines until everyone else had chosen. Not a mistake I’ll make again.

I was left with Fast Company. This is not a magazine I’m familiar with because business is not quite my forte. But I didn’t mind because all the cover stories seemed appealing. Sure, I’d like to know the 50 most innovative companies, learn something about why time-consuming Facebook is no. 1, and discover whether Hulu or Netflix is predicted to come out on top. All relevant to me. I also liked that I recognized the man on the cover, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerbrg.

However, I do not find the cover particularly eye-catching, and the front and back cover have a feel to them I really don’t like to touch.

First, I flipped through the unfamiliar magazine just to get a feel for it. The ads are boring. I also quickly noticed that I recognize a majority of people or products featured. When I started reading more closely, I learned that the big recognizable pictures and catchy headlines didn’t always represent the articles’ main messages, which were usually more boring than I might have guessed. I like this tactic because it sparked my interest in articles I would probably overlook or ignore otherwise.

For a business magazine, I enjoyed Fast Company more than expected, but I don’t plan to sit down with another issue if I have options any time soon. I have certainly read far more drab business magazines that include almost only information I don’t understand or have no interest in whatsoever. Articles in Fast Company covered everything from the business side of Facebook, fashion, food, entertainment and technology. While I’m likely to read about all these topics from other sources, I usually only gain the social or entertaining perspective. I was able to read about things I’m interested in but not what I consider most interesting about them. I’m just not a business kind of person, but I could see this magazine enjoyed by those who are as a quick, light read.