The Medium is the Message

There is no shortage of places to create, yet I delight in this new channel.

The work I do has me reviewing and tinkering with 5-10 new sites, apps, and tools per week; the novelty has worn off and now it often feels like a burden. So when I first encountered Medium.com, the cynic in me immediately jumped into action. “Oh great, another place to write. Another place for content. Another place to build an audience. ”

But something unique happened as I began to browse this site. I noticed a distinct lack of clutter. I noticed a distinct lack of organization, which is something the left side of my brain that I’ve worked so hard to cultivate immediately tried to reject. The focus was squarely on the words, and the standard “influencers” were noticeably absent.

As I read one article after another, I found myself giving in to the experience. I was reading things well outside my industry. Where hundreds of other sites have failed to capture my attention and bring me back, I found myself lost in Medium for over an hour.

From the consumption side, Medium is a varied, simplified, and enjoyable experience. From the creation side, the editor is the cleanest I’ve encountered, which consequently creates a stillness that allows the voice in my head to match the words on my screen.

In a cluttered, noisy, online world, that is simultaneously meticulously organized, and heavily positioned, it’s nice to find a place where words speak for themselves and the ideas are at the forefront.

I still don’t know how Medium will fit in my world, but I get the distinct sense, even early on in this site’s lifetime, that this is a place I want to be.