Life is the greatest story ever told, interwoven from billions of strands, each with their own twists and turns. Each of us is a unique and essential part of this story.
This uniqueness is our most precious gift and our greatest challenge. The fact that we are all different means we have something to offer one another, but it has equal potential to divide us.
Each of us sees a sliver of the world, from the narrow perspective afforded by our own life experience. These differences in perspective can drive us apart. But when they are openly shared, something happens.
They unify us. They remind us that at our core, we are not so very different. We recognize each other as human, and the differences that separate us melt away.
A civilization’s writing is its DNA. Just as the right sequencing of the simple 4-letter alphabet of our genes can produce wonderfully complex people, the characters of our written alphabets, properly sequenced, have incredible power.
As we live life, we gain insight. It used to die with us, or if we were lucky, last a couple generations and then disappear. Writing changed that. While our lives remained short, our ideas and our stories became immortal.
Space and time limit the verbal spread of ideas. So does convention. Each venue in life has its own protocol. Even when we’re standing right next to someone, opportunities to introduce new ideas and alternate viewpoints are rare. Social convention turns out to be a very effective defense mechanism against change.
Writing solves this problem. Like any good virus, it provides a way to cut through our defenses. It gives us a way to communicate that breaks past the limits of social protocol.
With writing, we can reach people at a time when they are ready to listen.
Video Didn’t Kill The Literary Star
There are other ways to tell a story. Video can be powerful, but it’s time-consuming to produce and consume.
In the golden age of TV, a handful of media companies controlled the narrative. Today, that narrative is shaped by millions.
As the number of connected voices grows, the efficiency of the medium becomes increasingly important. We now communicate more than ever via writing: emails, articles, blogs, texts, and tweets. Each form has its function.
Sharing your worldview is like directing people to your home. First you need to understand where your reader is coming from. Then you carefully take them through a series of connected roads that lead to the destination.
This is where long-form writing shines. It’s power lies in its capability not just to inform, but to transform how we see the world.
In an era of ad-driven journalism, Medium is an oasis of authenticity. Not every post is a masterpiece. But this is Medium’s greatest strength. Anyone can be discovered here. Everybody gets a shot, and the cream rises to the top.
Last year, in my post “Medium: The beautiful love-child of Magazine and Slushpile”, I explored the balance between being an exceptional magazine, and democratizing writing so that everyone has a chance to be heard.
Since I wrote this article, Medium has evolved significantly. Through careful study and experimentation, the Medium team is perfecting this balance.
The Rest of the Planet
Today, 1.5 billion people own smartphones. New voices are coming online, connecting to the rest of us for the first time on cheap mobile devices. These voices have stories to tell. They have a unique perspective that can transform the way we see the world.
How will these new voices share their insight us? They need a place where the power of their insight can be quickly recognized by others and spread like wildfire, regardless of who they are and where they come from.
Medium is this place. It dramatically reduces the inertia of writing and being read. But there is something missing.
The Need
These new voices don’t own a traditional computer. They own a mobile device. To contribute, they need a mobile app that lets them write.
So does the 1st world. Inspiration strikes in the in-between times, when our mind is free to wander. The best stuff comes when we’re lying in bed, staring into a campfire, riding the bus, waiting in line, relaxing at a cafe. By the time we make it back to a computer, that moment is gone.
A great mobile writing experience is essential, and it can’t come soon enough. The reason we don’t have it yet is simple: it takes time to get it right.
When it’s ready, it will be a very big deal. We’ll see an increase in the amount of authentic content, and also its quality, as people perfect and tune their writing in spare moments through the day.
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