On March 29, Tag !t entered the world of magazines like a comet. The magazine attracted students’ attention through a series of exclusive interviews of reporters themselves, even before its first publication, to support and introduce the diversified lifestyle of 20s. Tag !t is composed of four sections; Food, Place, Culture, and Fashion aiming at university students with the hope of expanding their range of cultural life and knowledge.
Tag !t started with 11 university students from different schools with diverse majors. Currently, 33 student reporters and producers with one investor are working for Tag !t, without pay.
“Our goal for Tag !t is to help those in their 20s enjoy their lives and be free from the stress at least when reading the magazine,” said Lee Yu-min (Advertising and Public Relations, 3), the editor-in-chief of the magazine. “So we deliver stories of unique people and places. We encourage each section and issue to be filled with conspicuously creative design and contents.”
One of the most outstanding characteristics about Tag !t is that each section is dedicated to different stories but interconnected under a central theme. Each article is complementary to the particular theme of that issue.
Also, Tag !t creatively differentiates itself from other magazines by adopting a new system of introducing each article.
“The new system can be easily assumed through the name of the magazine itself Tag !t. We pick a word or a picture from the article and then tag it to the next article. Basically we are trying to relate the articles by tagging,” Lee said.
Tag !t aims to provide practical information for fulfilling the lives of 20s with enjoyment and cultural experiences while capturing the hottest cultural trends among young generation in the articles.
The very first issue of Tag !t was distributed for free from March 29 at random places where its target audiences, university students in 20s, often convenes.
In terms of business, Tag !t gets benefits both from regular subscribers and advertisers. Regular subscribers are not obliged to pay more than 6,000 won as a delivery fee but to help Tag !t improve its quality of contents and articles, they can voluntarily pay more.
“We could not set a price on Tag !t. Our initial intention for this magazine was to address issues that are interesting to university students,” Lee said. “Therefore, we decided to give out Tag !t without cost to make sure it is available throughout the young adult population.”
Tag !t has its main office in Dongjak-gu in Seoul, where student reporters usually work until 10:00 p.m.
“The motto of our magazine is to ‘live a pleasant life, see and feel a lot.’ We are just following the motto that we set for ourselves,” Lee Seung-hoon (Soongsil University, 3) said.
Though works can be stressful at times, reporters try to remain up-beat.
“When we face hard times, we slap high-fives while giving shout of joy and encouragement. We always dress casually to work in enjoyable atmosphere,” Lee Seung-hoon said.
The upcoming Tag !t will be a 50 page, full-bodied magazine with 5,000 copies being published. The publishers are planning to open an official Web site in late April for feedbacks to improve the magazine’s quality. Students who want to get updated articles of Tag !t can visit the magazine’s Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/tagitlove).
“We hope that more university students find motivational benefits in pursuing enjoyment in their lives,” Lee Yu-min said. “We believe Tag !t really is the chance to showcase how proud university students are of their fruitful lifestyle to the fact that they know how to enjoy their life.”
Yoo Seon-hwa
ja7122@ewhain.net