The Future of Medium

Can Medium Avoid Becoming Just Another Website?

It’s a question that worries me.

I love the concept of Medium: a site dedicated to quality writing. The people running the site are doing a great job. Medium has the potential to be a great Web site that can be transformative for the Internet. But I see storm clouds on the horizon.

I’ve been on Medium for three years now, but I did very little with it for the first year being too busy with life changes. And I had a healthy skepticism from earlier Web sites devoted to publishing writers so was reluctant to go all-in on Medium. I fear I lost an opportunity because Medium feels a little different lately. More so, I fear Medium may be losing something valuable.

Increasingly, it feels like Medium is looking like the rest of the Internet. Articles are increasingly aimed not at quality content, but at quick hooks and feel-good fluff. More memes, more “life hacks,” more Tweets inflated beyond sense, and especially more “how to make money easily.” Two of Medium’s most popular publications concentrate on tips and tricks to make money online by writing or some other “side…