Fun fact: Longreads turned 2 years old last month. 

Since then, our community has blown up into something bigger but still just as wonderful. 

So today we’re launching Community Picks, a new section on Longreads designed to showcase all the amazing stories you’re sharing every day. Community Picks features the most popular and recent tweets on the #longreads hashtag. Go take a look around.

We’re excited about this, because it’s the community that powers Longreads, and we wanted to find ways to better highlight everyone’s diverse reading tastes.

Here’s another nice thing: You can also share your own reading list based on recent stories you’ve tweeted as #longreads. (Here’s Michelle Legro’s list as an excellent example.) If you’re a regular Longreader, type your Twitter username into this URL to see them: http://www.longreads.com/usernamehere. You can add to the list by tweeting stories with the #longreads tag. 

There are still some quirks, but we’re excited to keep building. If you see anything strange, or if you do not want to be featured in the Community Picks section, drop me a note (mark@longreads.com).

And a few thank yous: Longreads is powered with support from Twitter, Readability and Instapaper, so we’d like to thank all of them for their help over the past several months. 

***

One last thing: Help us keep growing and become a Longreads Member

Today I’m also launching a fund-raising campaign that I hope will be successful enough to keep building Longreads and the services associated with it.

For $3 a month, you can become a Longreads Member, which will get you early access to new features, and hopefully some other very small, modest perks in the future. If you buy a one-year subscription upfront, you’ll save $6 and you’ll get a limited-edition Longreads Travel Mug.

This is all totally optional—Longreads will remain free for all users. That said, a Longreads Membership is a great way to show your support for the service and ensure that we continue to grow. 

Thanks to the entire Longreads community for a great two years. More soon.