PlusHeart is a newsletter about internet culture, communities, and how we all connect through the internet. It also talks about gaming, esports, creator platforms like Twitch, fandom, and the psychology of “trying to make it work” in an increasingly fragmented online world.

It’s written by me, Matt Demers, who’s worked in esports for over a decade. It was originally minted with the idea of writing exclusively about marketing, design and fashion, but has expanded to include a lot of community and connection work.

This encompasses a lot of “hows”, “whys”, and “whats” about how people connect with gaming, competition, stories of personal drive, and mental health. People form communities based on these connections, and volunteer more and more of themselves to it in the process.

I think that kind of stuff is fascinating.

PlusHeart also aims to have an ongoing blog about these subjects that feels genuine, approachable, authentic and self-aware. It is not aiming to be the definitive “B2B Blog” for esports. It is looking to capture the mood and flavor of “old blog culture”, for whatever that counts for anymore.

I hope you’ll join, participate, read, and think.

If this resonates with you, consider sharing the project by hitting the button below.

Benefits to subscribing

Subscribers get:

• Audio versions of posts that you can listen to. I also often turn these into live editing sessions.

• A role in my Discord server where you can chat with me (no other channels in my Discord can).

I believe that audio posts are important in a landscape of podcasting, but also allows me to do some editing on-the-fly and “director’s commentary” about things that I’m exploring in posts.

You can also contribute to my work on Patreon to support my non-esports writing, or if that’s more convenient for you. I write small “stuff I’m playing/watching/listening to” posts there, as well.

Thanks, and I hope you like your time here.