Why Medium Is Such A Great “Medium”

Self-curating is the new black when it comes to media.

In the age of millennials and the internet, the world has evolved. We are able to dictate many aspects of our lives. Take a look at Netflix: you can skip the television commercials and/or irrelevant shows and get straight to a specific show, then you can binge watch all 8 seasons of the show in one sitting. Take a look at Glassdoor: you can find out if a company is a bad place to work before you even apply. And take a look at Burger King: you can have a burger your way. Okay, maybe that reference is outdated.

Enter Medium, “a different kind of place to read and write on the internet.” You now have the chance to write freely, at any time, from anywhere. Maybe you never thought of writing, like me. I have to tell you, it can be rather relaxing. I know you like thinking in the shower, so think of writing as an expanded thinking session.

I am in no way affiliated with Medium, except for the fact that I have an account here. I am just a regular user of the internet like you. I chose to write about Medium because I simply want to.

Medium is for everybody. I read an article on here one time and felt inspired to write a similar piece (props to Jamie Heuze). This isn’t that piece, but it is my first attempt to writing on Medium. You have to crawl before you can walk. I do not consider myself a writer. The only time I’ve really written something was in English class. I assumed an account here was just going to give me the ability to write comments and track the stories I like, but I linked my Twitter (@pjohnston) to this site and I was able to begin writing right away.

Perhaps the high barrier to entry is what has always prevented me from attempting writing. Good luck trying to get something published by one of the major news mediums without proper credentials and an extensive writing portfolio. I can’t say that I’ve tried, but I also can’t say I’ve tried to become president. I can safely assume both are hard to accomplish.

Everyone on Medium writes what they want. There’s no quota to meet. There’s no deadlines. There’s no management to dictate direction. And best of all, there’s no ads or other distractions to get in your way of getting in & out. Individual reputations are the only thing at stake here, and that’s really all the quality control you need. If you write poorly, people won’t read anything else written by you.

The language at Medium is like that of a blog. Come to think of it, Medium is almost like a central hub for all of the internet’s blogs. And I, for one, enjoy reading blogs. The general tone is informal. It doesn’t sound cheesy like your 9th grade English essay response to a topic that didn’t interest you. It isn’t all prim and proper like a résumé cover letter (e.g. omitting the use of contractions). Would you rather rather read through a research paper on the quantum effects of a four-dimensional pseudoparticle, or a blog on why your state’s other football team sucks?

Medium has a laid back, personal feel; connecting with an author and their words is as smooth as ___[favorite analogy here]___. My favorite part of relaxed writing is that it’s okay to make all sorts of references. If an author finds a way to relate a story about workplace ethics to a scene in Star Wars, or if they make use of a sarcastic and witty aside to a topic, they just earned themselves a Like and Recommendation from me.

For authors, Medium’s site and app is ultra accessible. Quickly jotting down key points for a future article takes a few seconds. At the time of writing, I have 3 other articles halfway written, mostly in the form of a couple coherent sentences/paragraphs and bunches of ideas typed out. I am able to promptly return to a draft and add content at a moment’s notice. This is how each article begins for me: inspiration to write on a topic occurs spontaneously, I click “New Story”, and I lay down some of the framework for the story. I like the freedom to redesign and rearrange the story before the cement hardens.

And lastly, you curate articles yourself by following people on here and seeing the stories they recommend. Or you can explore Medium’s curated list of top stories. Either way, you will find stories that interest you, and may inspire you to write your own. Maybe you thought a story could be better if it included x or talked more about y, and you have enough thoughts to form your own unique version of it.

I hope that reading this might inspire you to begin gathering thoughts, writing notes, and eventually publishing a story of your own!

And please leave me constructive criticism on my first article! What did I do good, what did I do bad?