How are the "must read" stories selected on dev.to?

I'd like to increase my chances of making the "must read" list in the weekly emails.

How are the "must read" stories selected? Are they determined via algorithm? Or is it strictly at the editor's discretion?

What are the cutoff dates for consideration? Are there other considerations I can take into account when writing my posts?

Thanks.

Comments

[Ben Halpern]

It's mostly based on popularity with some editorial based on if a topic is covered multiple times etc or if we can find a theme. So it's mostly a feedback cycle of popularity on platform.

—But we could probably stand to make more types of lists separate from that weekly one.

[Blaine Osepchuk]

Sorry Ben, it's still not clear. What makes a story popular? Page views. Hearts, unicorns, or tags? Number of comments? Is there a formula?

[Ben Halpern]

Popularity in this context is mostly traffic, but hearts/unicorns and traffic are leading drivers of that.

[Blaine Osepchuk]

Okay thanks, Ben. I appreciate it.

[aurel kurtula]

Popularity in this context is mostly traffic

I like that distinction