Medium is really an American online publishing platform developed by Evan Williams and launched in August 2012. It is actually owned by A Medium Company.[two] The System is undoubtedly an illustration of social journalism, using a hybrid assortment of beginner and Experienced people today and publications, or unique weblogs or publishers on Medium,[three] and is particularly on a regular basis viewed as a site host.

Williams, Earlier co-founder of Blogger and Twitter,[4] initially produced Medium as a means to publish writings and documents for a longer period than Twitter's a hundred and forty-character (now 280-character) utmost.

In March 2021, Medium introduced a modify in its publishing technique and business product, cutting down its possess publications and escalating assist of impartial writers.[5]

Background
2012–2016
Evan Williams, Twitter co-founder and previous CEO, made Medium to encourage consumers to build posts longer as opposed to then a hundred and forty-character Restrict of Twitter. When it released in 2012, Williams stated, "There is been much less development towards elevating the quality of what is made."[six]

By April 2013, Williams reported there were 30 total-time team working on the platform,[seven] together with a vacancy for any "Storyteller" position,[8] and that it absolutely was using "98 p.c" of his time.[seven] By August, Williams noted which the web-site was nevertheless little, Whilst he was however optimistic about this, saying "We try to make it as easy as feasible for Individuals who have thoughtful matters to state".[9]

Medium has long been concentrating on optimizing the time readers commit studying the internet site (1.5 million several hours in March 2015), instead of maximizing the scale of its viewers.[10][eleven] In 2015, Williams criticized the normal web website traffic metric of special visitors as "a remarkably risky and meaningless variety for what we're seeking to do".[11] In accordance with the firm, as of Might 2017, Medium.com experienced 60 million one of a kind regular monthly readers.[twelve]

Medium taken care of an editorial Office staffed by Skilled editors and writers, experienced many Other people signed on as contractors and served for a publisher for numerous publications. Make any difference operated from Medium Headquarters in San Francisco and was nominated for the 2015 National Journal Award.[13] In May possibly 2015, Medium produced deep cuts to its editorial finances forcing layoffs at dozens of publications hosted around the System.[14] Quite a few publications still left the System.

In 2017, Medium launched paywalled written content available only to subscribers.[fifteen] In 2017, Medium started shelling out authors depending on exactly how much end users expressed their appreciation for it through a like button which Each individual person could activate numerous periods.[16] The system for compensation was soon tailored to also include the period of time audience invested examining, Along with using the like button.[17]