Medium: Reading & Writing Quality Content
You may have already heard about Medium, a new online platform created by Evan Williams (creator of small unknown products such as Twitter and Blogger). That is, you may have heard of it if you are rooted in the design community. If you are outside of it, Medium may be an unknown entity to you. Personally, I have been following Medium since it was in its baby stages. I have been observing because I believe it is a service that has found a purpose and is founded on a wonderful idea: that quality content matters.
Defining Medium
But what exactly is Medium? If Twitter is for quick, rapid-firings of information, and blogs are for more methodical, long-form articles, then Medium is -- well, a medium between the two. It is a no-joking platform that allows users to write and… that's it. Write. And read what others have written. It allows writers to collaborate and offer reactions. "It's simple, beautiful, collaborative, and it helps you find the right audience for whatever you have to say," says Evan.
Medium is a new place on the Internet where people share ideas and stories that are longer than 140 characters and not just for friends. It's designed for little stories that make your day better and manifestos that change the world. It's used by everyone from professional journalists to amateur cooks. It's simple, beautiful, collaborative, and it helps you find the right audience for whatever you have to say.
Medium is filling the void that has been created as other services race to monetize and be all-encompassing. Tumblr, which may have been the best choice for publishing written content quickly and hassle-free, has been overtaken with animated GIFs and most-artsy photography. I'm not complaining -- they've found their audience -- but it leaves a gap for writers wanted a space for publishing important content. Where do they take to? Setting up a Wordpress blog? Too complex and not enough "togetherness." Tumblr and Wordpress were always meant to be services that combine a multitude of formats.
Doing One Thing Well
However, Medium is much less than that, making it worth much more. Specificity wins the day; I would much prefer to invest in a service that does one thing excellently as opposed to a service that does a mediocre job at many things.
I highly suggest you check Medium out. I predict (and really hope) it will continue to grow in size and popularity, and that we can all continue publishing quality content for the world to read.
From the Custom Fit Online team