Medium, Unfolded [2012-Present]

Summary of Medium’s Latest Official Release

This article is the summary of the latest Medium release highlighting key points which are relevant for all Medium in years to come.

If you want the original 13-minute read article, you can read it here 👇

It Happened on Medium: The First 10 Years

Who is Medium For:

• Readers
• Writers
• Thinkers

It’s a community of readers and writers offering unique perspectives on small or large ideas.

Total posts so far (estimate): 18 million.

Criticism of Medium (Vox):

They are platisher. It’s something in between a publisher and a platform — something that weaves together the strengths of both. Simply put, “Medium doesn’t let the algo decide content recommendations to its users”

Highlights of Medium journey (relevant points)

Here “we” means Medium.

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

1. We built a place on the internet for stories that aren’t too long or too short, but… that in-between length [Medium length]
2. We offer a simple and clean writing experience.
3. Medium’s metric that matters: Total Time Reading
4. We hone our design and typography.
5. We explored sponsored content, matching companies like BMW and Macy’s with top Medium writers in 2015.
6. Sign-ups in Medium skyrocketed in the 2016 US Presidential Election [The strongest content category in Medium is politics]
7. Medium relied on ads but pivoted to a subscription-based model in 2017.
8. We embark on a new in-house editorial effort focused on sourcing, commissioning, editing, and featuring valuable stories behind our paywall for Medium members.
9. We hire a team of editors to cover tech, politics, health, culture, and more in an effort to deliver value to our paying subscribers [Vox criticism looks valid?]
10. Our team launches 7 original editorial brands: OneZero, GEN, Forge, Marker, LEVEL, ZORA, and Elemental.
11. Medium breaks records for visitors and sign-ups in the 2020 pandemic as millions of people take to the platform to process what’s going on (often before officially sanctioned analysis and guidance).
12. We refocus on supporting individual writers rather than commissioned journalism and offer a voluntary buyout to editorial employees. Later in the year: We introduce email subscriptions for writers and make changes to the Medium Partner Program.

In a nutshell, here’s what Medium wants to offer:

A minimalist writing experience for everyone.