On Medium
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On Medium
1–10 of 59 posts
Re: On Medium
#2As the author mentions, Medium seems best for the regular casual blogger. Bloggers with large followings are probably better served keeping their following and all the comments on their own turf.
Re: On Medium
#3Many articles on Medium have all external links shortened to bit.ly URLs. Is that an option in the publishing interface? I find it extremely annoying, you can track outbound links using javascript without hiding the actual url.
Re: On Medium
#4As the author mentions, Medium seems best for the regular casual blogger. Bloggers with large followings are probably better served keeping their following and all the comments on their own turf.
I am always surprised how quickly individuals will give up control over their own content.
Re: On Medium
#5As the author mentions, Medium seems best for the regular casual blogger. Bloggers with large followings are probably better served keeping their following and all the comments on their own turf.
I am always surprised how quickly individuals will give up control over their own content.
and the lack of identity
Re: On Medium
#6I get the feeling that a lot of people on this site dislike Medium, either consciously or unconsciously. I think part of it is the fact that it separates content from its creators; I think part of it is that it sprung up the same time as Svbtle, and grew conspicuously ubiquitous whereas Svbtle has remained pretty confined to the tech sphere.
The underlying value proposition by any sort of blogging engine (Posthaven, Medium, Svbtle, et al) is limited to a network, ease of use, and a good design. For most tech people, ease of use is a non-factor (you can extol 'distractions-free design', but you can put vim or Byword in full-screen mode) -- and I think the way people are reading is shifting away from individual sites and towards external services to the extent that design isn't a huge factor (everything looks the same in NewsBlur or Instapaper.)
This leaves the network/audience, which is a much more interesting concept: Svbtle is clearly going for a more curated approach (though the value of that curation is arguable), whereas Medium's trying a bunch of stuff at once (collections, editor's feed, etc.)
I can't help thinking that the winner of this nouveau publishing spectrum isn't going to be a hosting service, but a linking service. You might never get Patrick McKenzie to blog on your platform (because why would he?) but you can always link to his material.
Re: On Medium
#7I've had two Medium articles get over 1.1k views and a 90%+ readership. I have about 6 subscribers on my WordPress blog that gets ~100 views a day.
Just putting that out there. Make of it what you will.
By the way, I once had an article get 10k views after a share on HN, then had that same article get ~120,000 after a republish on Lifehacker. The morale of all this? I don't know. Sure, it feels kind of good knowing that many people are reading your content, but the bigger picture is what are you doing with the viewership. I'm not so gung-ho on views anymore because views don't pay my rent, money does. Money is the ultimate metric.
Sure, viewership is nice, but only because of what it leads to: money and conversations. Medium is an okay place for conversations, and definitely is not a place to make money. I've yet to see an affiliate link or someone telling me to buy their book on the site. If anything, it's a place used to build your reputation -- it's like a nice outfit that makes you temporarily look good. I saw temporarily because it's a new site and has somewhat of a gated community feel to it.
I like reading. I like writing. But in the end, it comes down to making money.
yeah, I'm all over the place with this comment. It's Sunday night and I am a single guy that lives alone -- I got a lot on my mind!
Re: On Medium
#8I get the feeling that a lot of people on this site dislike Medium, either consciously or unconsciously. I think part of it is the fact that it separates content from its creators; I think part of it is that it sprung up the same time as Svbtle, and grew conspicuously ubiquitous whereas Svbtle has remained pretty confined to the tech sphere. The underlying value proposition by any sort of blogging engine (Posthaven,…
I like your comment, and your last name. I have an Uncle named Jim. This isn't him, is it?
That would be quite the coincidence.
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I think the next best blogging platform will be one that does what WordPress used to do. I have my eyes on Ghost, which claims to be a minimalistic blogging system that you have full control over.
It's interesting you mention a linking service. I am actually working somewhat of a linking/sharing/status service that will put salience on the conversation instead of the publishing.
Re: On Medium
#9Many articles on Medium have all external links shortened to bit.ly URLs. Is that an option in the publishing interface? I find it extremely annoying, you can track outbound links using javascript without hiding the actual url.
The last time I checked, that wasn't an option. And now that you mentioned it, I might start to do it, too (sorry).
I'm not sure how you can track links via javascript, but I do know how to make a bit.ly link.
Re: On Medium
#10Each different sharing outlet provides a unique level of anxiety, ease of sharing, ego, and focus. The reason I like the concept of Medium is that it encourages non-attention-seeking people to write publicly about nearly any topic. The categories are a good structure, and the focus is on the content rather than the person posting it. It's not your blog nor your servers to maintain. It's a public feed and you're just a small fish. The barrier to entry is low, and the stats are nice to see.