Medium.com Is the Message
“Washington players say they’re drawn to Medium’s simplicity”
Here’s all you really have to know:
“The White House’s decision last January to post the State of the Union speech on Medium just before Obama delivered it represented a real coup for the company, launched in 2012 by Twitter co-founder Ev Williams.”
That, my friend, is the political equivalent of Alexander Graham Bell’s 1876 comment, “Mr. Watson — Come here — I want to see you.” Or Thomas Edison’s recording of “Mary had a little lamb …” (1878).
Don’t take my word for it, read Nancy Scola’s article and decide for yourself.
Scola, a reporter covering technology for Politico Pro, published this piece this very day (01/02/16 07:59 AM EST). The sub-head is most revealing : “The online publishing platform (aka Medium) has assiduously courted the political class.”
Three examples:
Hillary Clinton, “under fire for not taking a stand on the Keystone XL pipeline, turned to Medium in September when she decided to come out against the project.”
John Boehner, “on the verge of fulfilling a lifelong dream of meeting the pope, posted a chatty preview of the visit on Medium.”
Mitt Romney, “with the GOP field on tenterhooks, announced on Medium that he would be sitting out the 2016 presidential race.”
High-powered stuff. Too much to go too deep. So I’ll hi-jack “The Princess Bride” approach:
Inigo Montoya: Let me explain. [pause] No, there is too much. Let me sum up.
Years from now, if Medium.com is the Cat’s Meow, the Bee’s Knees, the Bag of Chips and/or All That Jazz, this will be the article researchers extract from the digitalized pile of pixels to make the point.
On the other hand, “he had a wart,” and that’s the worst case scenario: The same researchers will read Scola’s words and lament, “How could Medium have been so close — and missed?”
I can’t wait to see how things turn out.
How about you?
Jim Lamb is a retired journalist and author of “Orange Socks & Other Colorful Tales,” the story of how he survived Vietnam and kept his sense of humor. Although he read Marshall McLuhan’s best-seller “The Medium Is the Message,” he didn’t fully understand it. For more about Jim, visit www.jslstories.com.