Medium

M your story here

Medium is a new way of writing.

Bandcamp is a platform for music, easy to listen, download and share.

Leanpub a platform to publish e-books.

Medium a platform for writers to publish articles.

It is probably easier to say what Medium is not. It is not a blog.

Writing could not be easier, although it takes a little getting used to. It is intuitive rather than logical. Highlight text, up pops a little box to change to italics, bold, add a link. Easy to embed videos, tweets, pictures.

Once posted, others can recommend, can also recommend a related article.

I thought not possible to leave comments, as no comment box at the bottom, but I have now learnt it is possible, but in a rather unusual manner. It is done by means of notes. Highlight a piece of text, and leave a note, or a note for the entire article.

The writer as writing an article, can make notes, either private notes or public notes.

As you are are writing, you can share with others a draft copy, either to obtain insight, or maybe to tidy up, spot the odd typo.

Bottom of an article, always a link to another article to read. Readers can also suggest other articles.

For non-registered users, the home page has half a dozen articles you may wish to read.

For registered users, you register and sign in using twitter.

Once logged in, you see a different home page, a different set of articles.

As a registered user, you periodically receive e-mails on what you may like to read. A good idea to introduce you to interesting articles you may not otherwise have come across, that if you find interesting, you in turn may wish to share, recommend, link to other related articles. Even if you have no desire to write, you may still wish to register for the weekly digest of articles.

If you like an article, click on the profile of the author to see what else they may have written.

• Keith Parkins –> https://medium.com/@keithpp
• Henry Freeman –> https://medium.com/@hf

There are no keywords, which is unusual, instead articles are grouped into collections.

One collection is About Medium, helping you get started. The best place to start, is probably Welcome to Medium.

Whether anyone reads what has been written, depends entirely upon the writer, but then it has always been thus. I may though be underestimating the effect of collections, recommendations and linking of one article to another.

The articles I have come across are typical of what you may find in New Yorker or The Guardian, which may of course not be typical at all, it may simply be indicative of what I have stumbled upon or maybe the way Medium and its various interconnections work.

If you do not want the hassle of writing a blog, Medium is ideal for the occasional article.

You may have submitted a paper to a journal on an obscure feminist issue. How many will read it? Probably can count on one hand. On the other hand, turn it into an article, and publish on Medium, and more will be able to share your insights.

What you post, can have been published elsewhere, in turn, what you post on Medium, can be posted elsewhere.

Much of how Medium works is novel.

Braden Kowitz has posed a number of questions, Wishes for Medium. By playing around, I had already answered many of the questions he poses. As I have already said, Medium is intuitive. By use of notes, I have been able to answer his questions.

Andrew Torba too has posed a number of interesting points, from the viewpoint of both writer and reader, often one and the same, in his Dear Ev letter to Evan Williams and the Medium team.

Give it a try.

And in the spirit of Medium, some stuff you may wish to read, links to other articles.

• Death of the English pub
• Serendipity, discovery and collaboration
• Has tech killed the music industry?
• Why use spotify when there are far better alternatives?
• Journalism in the age of the open web
• The Way of The Bow
• You Never Know How Wrong you could be
• Spotify’s Dangerous Game
• Operation: PRISM Break
• What inner city kids know about social media, and why we should listen
• “Dear @Ev” An Open Letter to Evan Williams and the Medium Team
• Does Speaking Different Languages Give You Different Personalities?
• Arrogant and Condescending