Welcome To Elite Daily

In late March of 2020, someone in my five-person group text of childhood and high school best friends changed our text name to “Support Sisters.” Our thread had always been about uplifting one another, but 14 days into life under lockdown, it became a lifeline.

The texts were lighthearted at first: photos of us throughout the years, maskless and happy, promising to do this again the very second things returned to normal; nonstop TikTok dumps of the most hilarious videos we could find. Dragging each other became a regular, welcomed practice. But we were quick to respond at 3 a.m. when we each took a turn with anxiety-induced insomnia. As the devastation mounted, we dug deeper for funnier memes and TikToks, sent links for donation pages and recommendations for TV shows to marathon next, and wasted hours hypothesizing what drove KimYe to the brink (I’m still dying to know). “Support Sisters” felt like a bridge back into the world we all missed and the people we were before we spent virtually all of our waking hours inside.

At Elite Daily, we’ve had a similar goal: to be a support for you no matter where life is pulling you. We’ve worked hard to be where you want and need us, armed with TikTok recipes you’ll make again and again, recommendations on what to watch after you’ve breezed through Bridgerton (psst: watch it one more time), and advice for meeting your new partner’s parents for the first time post-vaccine. We understand the things you crave when it comes to celebrities, food, movies, TV, travel, politics, dating, relationships, and social media because they’re the things we’re searching for, too.

Today, we’re sharing with you a “new” version of Elite Daily — one that’s been a long time coming. We’ve also got a new look: bold, bright, and bursting with personality. We’ll continue our mission to be as inclusive, representative, and connected to your needs as we possibly can be. That means covering everything from the latest Starbucks strawberry funnel cake drink news to how to make anti-racism work a part of your daily practice. We’ll continue to go long on all of the most recent BTS rumors and theories and Shadow And Bone quotes while making sure you’re in the loop about the fashion trends taking over your feeds.

We’re welcoming readers back to Elite Daily with an issue devoted to a topic that’s at the very foundation of our site, and also of our lives: friendship. The pandemic has shown us many things about ourselves and the world — many of them ugly and painful. But it has also illuminated just how essential the bonds we share with each other are. Sometimes that best friendship is the relationship you have with your sister, like it is for Maddie and Kenzie Ziegler, and other times, it’s with a stranger you met on Twitter. We couldn’t celebrate friendship without celebrating long-distance love, and what better way to show your BFF you care than with a curated list of customizable items to buy? If this pandemic has left you lonely (and for many of us, it has), then what about finally joining your favorite online TV fandom? The stories in this issue will make you want to schedule a FaceTime with your own best friends ASAP.

I am so thrilled to share this new chapter of Elite Daily with you. We’ll continue growing, challenging, educating, inspiring, and supporting each other, and we’re delighted to have you along for the ride.