2 min read
Why We Love Medium
Medium is a publishing platform with a built in distribution system. It was created by Twitter cofounder Evan Williams in August 2012 with the goal of encouraging people to create longer form content. The platform includes a mixture of posts from individuals as well as larger publications which often post simultaneously on Medium and their own websites. So why do we love Medium so much?
Medium is beautifully designed with tremendous consideration being paid to the user interface and user experience. The site is incredibly minimalistic but close attention has been paid to font types, spacing and navigation - and it shows. Medium makes long form content a joy to read.
What makes Medium extra special and sets it apart from other publishing platforms is the distribution mechanism that’s built in. With other platforms, when you post your first article you are pretty much starting from scratch in terms of attracting eye balls but with Medium your first post, and subsequent posts, are pushed to the Medium community who can follow you with a click of the mouse and keep up to date with your future posts.
Because the platform encourages long form, thought leading content and is designed in a manner that makes the words the only focal point, the overall content quality is generally quite high. A great number of the posts on Medium are from knowledge worker professionals (designers, engineers, programmers, marketers) talking about their industry in some capacity or posting insights about life in general as well as motivational posts to inspire others. But more recently there has been more variety in the posts as people from other industries and walks of life have discovered the platform and have started contributing.
Medium centres around people and empowers individuals with a voice that can be heard. When you like a post and decide you want to see more then you follow the person, not a blog. This focus on people has fostered a strong community on Medium and helped break the idea that Medium is just one big faceless site, but that it’s rather a platform that is full of many different, individual faces all sharing their ideas, or commenting on others.
As can be expected from such a minimal design, Medium is really fast and we love speed. There’s nothing more off putting than twiddling your thumbs waiting for a blog post to load, thankfully we have never had to wait for Medium.
I'm Jason, Co-Founder, and Lead Developer at MadeByShape. When i'm not walking my pooch Sully (Or him walking me), you'll find me cycling in the hills, at a gig or starting another DIY project.
