Our top articles of 2023 – e-ID news, a screen bar and spiders in a vacuum cleaner

Martin Jungfer

28/12/2023

Translation: Veronica Bielawski

The Editorial Team published almost 3,000 new articles for the Digitec and Galaxus magazine in 2023. Be it new bike helmets, old games consoles or mediocre sous-vide sticks, there’s hardly a topic that has escaped our attention. But the top topics of the year are different ones.

Some of the entries in the top places came as a real surprise. Others were as predictable as FC Bayern in the Champions League. Our Editorial Team counts 37 editors who do their best to sniff out the right topics to write about in our magazine. They’re journalists by trade who test products and write reviews, guides and behind-the-scenes reports that show how a popular product is manufactured, for example. In addition, the Editorial Team always has its eyes out for exciting news and upcoming products. (Learn more about the Editorial Team’s work here.)

Most clicked

The article with the most views in 2023 (the last few days of the year are unlikely to change this) was an in-depth background piece by Florian Bodoky. In it, he explored the federal government’s plans to introduce a digital identification card.

In second place is an article I wrote after being inspired on my holidays about why US trucks are so different from European trucks. Apparently, I wasn’t the only person to wonder about this. Did we sell more model truck because of it? No clue!

In third place, just behind the trucks, is a hymn of praise for a screen bar. In his article, my colleague Lorenz Keller shows off his home office setup – more precisely, his BenQ lamp.

Lorenz also secured 4th place with his news piece on the sporty smartwatch from Tissot, though the watch is currently only available for purchase directly from Tissot.

My article explaining how – or how not – to get rid of spiders in your home also struck a chord.

Most liked

Clicks are one thing. With a good headline, we can pique our readers’ curiosity. The little hearts you give to us editors are another matter entirely. With each click on «I like this article!» at the end of a text in the magazine, you brighten the author’s day. We take it as a sign that we were able to help you make a choice, solve a problem or present interesting arguments through our review, guide or opinion piece.

We interpret the 1,400 hearts on Livia’s plea to stop sending her voice messages via WhatsApp as an endorsement of her arguments – though there are also supporters and advocates of the sent spoken word among the more than 300 comments.

Right behind Livia’s article are the confessions of an ex-vegan. Author Thomas Meyer chronicled how he was meat-free for years and now eats meat again. The discussion here was even more heated than that about voice messages.

The news on the Tissot smartwatch (see above) is also very high up in the most-liked category – in 3rd place, to be precise. It’s immediately followed by another one of Thomas Meyer’s contributions. His appeal to make a little more effort when leaving product reviews garnered over 600 likes.

Happy to read, not so to buy. That’s the contribution in 5th place in a nutshell. Lorenz Keller presented a German-made smartphone in his news piece, though the device never became a bestseller.

Most commented

The little heart usually signals approval. There is also praise to be found in the comments of our article – thank you! – but it’s more often the place for debates. Heated ones, but mostly civilised. When the line is crossed, we intervene. The line being insults, discrimination, personal attacks, insinuations or slander. This is the only way to keep a discussion interesting and exciting for participants and readers alike. (You can find the Community terms and conditions here.)

Philipp Rüegg’s background piece was the most commented on in 2023. In it, he summarised the state of the debate surrounding the Hogwarts Legacy game, which received criticism at the time of its release due to transphobic comments previously made by Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling.

(Please note: the debate is not to be reopened under this article. Everything there was to say has presumably been said in the over 650 existing comments.)

Thomas Meyer’s confessions of a vegan-gone-meat-eater was the second most commented post of the year. His differentiated contribution, strongly based on personal experience, received a lot of approval in the comments – but also criticism from people who completely avoid animal products in their diet for the sake of animal welfare and climate protection.

The straightforward news piece about the controversial Elon Musk earned editor Samuel Buchmann 3rd place. Elon Musk had, rather unkindly, told a group of former advertisers of X (formerly Twitter) that he didn’t care about them. Some in our Community thought this was exactly right, while others criticised the billionaire’s out-of-the-norm behaviour. (I hope my summary is sufficiently neutral.)

How to find articles in the magazine

You may be surprised that you missed some of these articles, even though you did a fair bit of shopping on Digitec and Galaxus. This can certainly happen. On the home page of our shop, our system only ever shows 14 recent articles. This also includes posts which aren’t from the Editorial Team, such as discounts on brands.

An algorithm determines what’s displayed in these 14 slots. It can’t yet hold a candle to AI alternatives like ChatGPT in terms of intelligence and self-learning capabilities. But at least it is smart enough to show you posts that it thinks might interest you. Of course, this works best if you’re logged in.

Alternatively, you can use the search function in our magazine. It allows you to filter for posts that exactly match your interests.

To go to the magazine, scroll down a little on the Galaxus or Digitec home page, then click «Go to magazine».

As with products in our shop, you can use filters to find the articles you’re interested in. Select the topic that interests you, the section and the author.

You can also subscribe to the topics of your choice and the authors you like – simply click «follow» under the relevant article. That way, you’ll be notified by e-mail when a new article is published.

On that note, I’d love to hear from you: why do you read articles in the magazine? What interests you the most? Which contribution stuck with you? Let me know in the comments. Suggestions, requests and ideas on how to make the magazine even more interesting are also always welcome. If you don’t feel like typing, simply vote below.

Martin Jungfer

Head of Content

Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.ch

Journalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment. more

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