Over the past year there’s been a lot of hype around Medium, the new publishing platform set up by Twitter co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone. Like most people, I too was a bit dubious at the start. Just what the world needs – another blogging platform. But then I started reading stories on it. I started speaking about stories I read on it like I knew the writer and like their stories were my stories. I became a Medium addict. Totally hooked.
Part of what makes Medium brilliant is that it’s social journalism. People share their experiences and learning, like this guy who lost his $50,000 Twitter name or this dad that performed CPR on his son to save his life. It’s thoughtful, inspiring and you get to read a whole host of things written by a diverse writer base – from aid workers to web developers to founders of startups. You also get a sense that the site is heavily moderated and only surfaces the strongest, most shared editorial content.
Many people self-publish on their own blogs or on the blogs of the companies and organisations they work for but these don’t necessarily get seen or read. Medium fills this gap by providing a platform that surfaces great content that may not get seen otherwise.
I’ve been reading things on Medium for over a year now and I decided to take the leap and publish something. This week I wrote about Hackney Laces. And, without any hesitation, I’d say Medium is the best UX I’ve ever come across. Effortless and beautifully designed. It makes you want to write more and experiment with various layouts and lengths. It also racks up more page views and reads than some people would get on their standalone blog. And if that’s not enough to convince you to use Medium, read this. It reckon it will.