3. THE DIFFERENCE
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Online publishing platform
Developed by Evan Williams, founder of Twitter, to empower self-expression in more than 140
characters
Founded in August 2012
Social journalism / blog host
Combination of amateur and professional people and publications
Exclusive blogs and publishers
01 — WHAT IS MEDIUM ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
JANUARY 30, 2018
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medium_(website)
4. THE DIFFERENCE
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A place where advertising and popularity don’t matter, but creation does
A place to teach, learn, create and share anything
A place to learn from industry giants and DIYs alike
Other examples of social journalism: Vox Media, Buzzfeed, First Look Media
01 — WHAT IS MEDIUM ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
JANUARY 30, 2018
5. THE DIFFERENCE
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In addition to hosting individual blogs, Medium also hosts user-generated publications and official
news publications. On top of that, Medium is organized by category, which can make it confusing to
navigate.
Because Medium surfaces hundreds of articles to each individual user, some people say they rarely
go to the Medium home site due to the cognitive overload. Instead, they access the articles that are
promoted via other platforms or from notifications from authors or publications they’ve specifically
followed.
Clean design with a lot of white space and mostly centred content that doesn’t scale or bleed, with
some bleed-to-edge to distinguish certain publications.
01 — HEURISTIC EVALUATION AKA. A TOUR OF THE SPACE ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
JANUARY 30, 2018
6. THE DIFFERENCE
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HOME PAGE
Some may say home page is
hard to follow, with a top level
navigation showing categories
with progressive disclosure,
recommended stories for the
user from different blog
clusters based on an unknown
algorithm, and an endless
scrolling page highlighting
categories, “New from your
network”, “You might like” and
more. Content is centred -
does not bleed to edges.
7. THE DIFFERENCE
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ENDLESS TOP-LEVEL
NAVIGATION
Progressively disclosed in a
carousel
STORY PREVIEW
WITH MANY OPTIONS
Shows a thumbnail, a
headline, a preview, a
publication (if the story
belongs to one), the author,
the date of publishing, the
length of the article, and
actions to bookmark the story
for later or to alter the
algorithm
9. THE DIFFERENCE
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OFFICIAL NEWS
SOURCE
Publishers with independent
sites can also set up cluster
homes on Medium.
You can see that the story on
the right shows that someone I
follow or who follows me on
Medium has “clapped” for this
story. You can also see that
I’m following the Hackernoon
platform, and that I can
communicate to them via
Facebook or Twitter.
10. THE DIFFERENCE
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STORY & METRICS
Stories are set in different
templates based on whether
they belong to a cluster or
independent news platform. I
have the option to read the
author’s bio, to follow him
directly, and to learn more
about him by clicking on the
profile.
I can interact with the article
by commenting and
highlighting, and also seeing
top highlights.
I can “clap” for the article to
show my appreciation, Tweet
it, post it to Facebook, or
bookmark it.
11. THE DIFFERENCE
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TAGS & COMMENTS
Each story is additionally cross-tagged for relevant content.
User interaction is encouraged at the end of each story, as readers and writers engage in
discussion.
12. THE DIFFERENCE
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WRITER PROFILE
If I select to view a writer’s profile, I
can see who else in my network
follows him, his bio, any accounts he
chose to link, his follower-following
ratios, his stories in the cluster or
category I happen to be in, links to
other stories, and views of stories this
writer has highlighted or “clapped” for.
14. THE DIFFERENCE
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Algorithm for how stories are displayed is not well-known but hotly-contested: the guess is that
Medium attempts to balance quality and diversity
Not time-based, like many content platforms
Each user is surfaced hundreds of articles with limited prioritization
01 — ALGORITHM ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
JANUARY 30, 2018
15. THE DIFFERENCE
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Newly-introduced membership model: $5/month subscription in exchange for in-depth think pieces
by prominent figures such as Margaret Atwood, and other publications
Users say they are partaking in the membership model almost as a donation because they believe in
Medium’s mission, with one user saying she doesn’t want to see Medium fail so she supports it:
“Medium membership is totally worth it! I may not read many of the Members Only things, but
keeping this platform alive and without ads is what’s important.” (KF, Medium comment)
“If eventually just about everything is going to be paid access then the Internet just becomes
the next generation of a cable subscription service.”(MT, Medium comment)
01 — MEMBERSHIP MODEL ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
JANUARY 30, 2018
Source: https://medium.com/@johnmetta/is-my-medium-membership-worth-it-798528f1e72f
16. THE DIFFERENCE
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Newly introduced Membership fee will help writers get paid on the amount of “claps” they get
01 — HOW AUTHORS ARE PAID ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
JANUARY 30, 2018
Source: https://blog.medium.com/show-authors-more-%EF%B8%8F-with-s-c1652279ba01
17. THE DIFFERENCE
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02 — WHY DO PEOPLE COME HERE?
Due to aforementioned display model, users tend to come to Medium when prompted by a
notification or promotion on another platform. Many users don’t often go to the home page due to
cognitive overload
Users come for recent, up-to-date content that they feel they can trust because it is user-generated
and organic
Writers contribute for the distribution compared to an independent platform, and because it’s a great
place to sharpen thoughts, ideas and writing style, and get instant feedback
ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
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18. THE DIFFERENCE
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02 — WHY DO PEOPLE COME HERE? ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
JANUARY 30, 2018
19. THE DIFFERENCE
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02 — WHY DO PEOPLE COME HERE? ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
JANUARY 30, 2018
20. THE DIFFERENCE
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02 — WHY DO PEOPLE COME HERE? ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
JANUARY 30, 2018
Quinzy Larson, Medium writer: “I am a developer and a teacher and Medium helps me connect
people, ideas and code. I use Medium to write posts for aspiring programmers.”
Sarah Cooper, Medium writer: “I have been trying to write for years, so then I thought of finally
giving a shot. I felt like not giving it a shot was a higher risk than giving it a shot. Then with my one
article I got validation that I could actually do this. This made me give up my job at Google and
pursue writing.”
21. THE DIFFERENCE
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1
03 — WHY DON’T PEOPLE COME HERE?
While more people say they come to Medium to read, many of those users then drop off at the point
of contributing, citing reasons around insecurity in sharing their thoughts and generally not liking to
write.
ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
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23. THE DIFFERENCE
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04 — WHAT THE INTERNET IS SAYING
“Medium is Williams’ attempt to solve a problem most people didn’t know they had: In an age when
anyone with a phone can blast whatever they want to the entire world, he thinks that digital publishing
is still too hard for most people. It’s not just enough to post something, Williams argues — you want
people to see what you’ve posted.
Medium is supposed to solve that by creating a new kind of social network, one that makes it easy to
find stuff you want to see as well as stuff you didn’t know you wanted to see.
But by the company’s own admission, it hasn’t figured that part out yet, and only a small percentage
of Medium readers log in to the service, where they can take advantage of most of its networking
features. That means for now Medium is closer to Blogger, Williams’ first company, than Twitter, his
second effort.”
- From re/code’s Peter Kafka
ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
JANUARY 30, 2018
Source: https://www.recode.net/2015/9/28/11618966/ev-williams-medium-raises-57-million-for-the-best-stories-and-ideas
24. THE DIFFERENCE
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04 — WHAT THE INTERNET IS SAYING
Medium is tackling the challenge of how journalism is found and read on new platforms. Medium
understands that taking the print content and moving it to the web is not enough and that’s what
newspapers’ sites got wrong. Trans-modal translation is not literal.
“Writing is not the same as being read…. Blogging has never been easier, but getting read has never
been harder…. The problem isn’t freedom or openness but distribution…. Come for the great blogging
tools and stay for the distribution…. Medium... [is] trying to be a discovery and distribution network.”
- From Andreessen Horowitz’s Benedict Evans
ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
JANUARY 30, 2018
Source: https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2015/9/14/distribution-and-audience
25. THE DIFFERENCE
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05 — WHAT LITERATURE IS SAYING
While there is no Literature on the 5-year-old Medium platform, there is literature on user-generated
content, blogging platforms and social journalism. Additionally, there is a significant amount of
literature on Evan Williams’ other famous start-up - Twitter - and the role Twitter has played in recent
events.
ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
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26. THE DIFFERENCE
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05 — WHAT LITERATURE IS SAYING
Daugherty, Terry, Eastin, Matthew S. & Bright, Laura. “Exploring consumer motivations for creating user-generated content.” Journal of Interactive Advertising, Volume 8, Issue 2, 2008.
Dutta, S. (2011). The New Internet World: A Global Perspective on Freedom of Expression, Privacy, Trust and Security Online. INSEAD Working Paper , 35.
Kuznetsov, Stacey & Paulos, Eric. “Rise of the expert amateur: DIY projects, communities & cultures.” Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon.
Lowrey, Wilson. “Mapping the journalism-blogging relationship.” SAGE Journals, Volume 7, Issue 4, 2006, Pages 477-500.
Nardi, Bonnie A., Schiano, Diana J. & Gumbrecht, Michelle. “Blogging as a social activity, or, would you let 900 million people read your diary?” CSCW ‘04 Proceedings of the 2004 ACM conference on
Computer supported cooperative work, 2004, Pages 222-231.
Newman, Nic. “The rise of social media and its impact on mainstream journalism.” Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: Working papers, 2009.
Paulussen, Steve & Ugille, Pieter. “User generated content in the newsroom: Professional and organisational constraints in participatory journalism.” Westminster Papers in Communications and
Culture, Volume 2, Issue 5, 2008.
Poell, Thomas & Borra, Erik. “Twitter, YouTubem and Flickr as platforms of alternative journalism: The social media account of the 2010 Toronto G20 protests.” SAGE Journals, Volume 13, Issue 6,
2011, Pages 695-713.
Robin, B. R. (2008). Digital Storytelling: A Powerful Technology Tool for the 21st Century Classroom. Routledge , 220-228.
Siapera, Eugenia & Veglis, Andreas. “Social journalism: Exploring how social media is shaping journalism.” The handbook of global online journalism, 2012.
Stassen, Wilma. “Your news in 140 characters: Exploring the role of social media in journalism.” Global Media Journal - African Edition, Volume 4, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 116-131.
Van Dijck, Jose. “Users like you? Theorizing agency in user-generated content.” SAGE Journals, Vol 31, Issue 1, 2009.
ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
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27. THE DIFFERENCE
06 — SELF-REFLECTION ON MEDIUM ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
JANUARY 30, 2018
Vanshika:
I am not into writing or reading so much. The format with bold headings and visuals were
eye-catching and gathered my interest.
Medium is built with many features inspired by different platforms. It uses claps (like on Facebook) to
reward bloggers, it allows note-taking (like in Google Doc), involves the Followers concept (like on
Instagram).
Great platform for self expression
Possibilities of personal biases in the content , Is the content sensored ?Who sensors it?
28. THE DIFFERENCE
06 — SELF-REFLECTION ON MEDIUM ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
JANUARY 30, 2018
Jen:
I personally read Medium all of the time, mostly because of the interesting push-notifications I get from the app, and also the
stories I see Tweeted that are relevant to me. However, I never seem to find the time to publish, because the sheer reach of the
distribution network intimidates me when it comes to publishing something that isn’t perfect.
While I find many Medium writers to be very responsive via linked social media platforms, the lack of direct messaging channel
is unexpected compared to the affordance of other sharing apps (i.e. Instagram), and can make the community feel somewhat
limited.
I wonder about the inclusivity and accessibility of Medium. How does Medium employ diversity in its algorithm? Does Medium
attract real diversity in publishing? At what reading level are most Medium articles written? Would someone who speaks English
as a Second Language be able to participate? Are other languages welcome? Is there a missed opportunity?
Finally, the UI is currently quite busy and confusing, mashing up elements from almost every platform we’re familiar with, and
causing users to enter mostly via notifications. Can we introduce a streamlined UI that maintains the integrity of the platform?
29. THE DIFFERENCE
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06 — SELF-REFLECTION ON THE ASSIGNMENT PROCESS
Got me out of my comfort zone:
Really cool to reach out to people with thousands of followers and
have them respond
Social networks really do work to meet people: my LinkedIn invites
were accepted, I got Tweets back, and my Instagram direct
messages got responses
ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
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30. THE DIFFERENCE
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Does free speech on the Internet still exist?
07 — IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ENGAGING THE MAKERSPACE
JANUARY 30, 2018
