Is Medium the Best Place for Writers?
What makes Medium a top choice for writers—and the challenges it brings.
You should ask yourself this question: In your opinion, is Medium good for posting articles?
As Medium is a writers’ platform, it will also assist you in getting connected and networking with other writers and millions of readers. However, like any communicating platform, it has its strengths and weaknesses. From guaranteed readership, suspension, and account revoking to losing control over your posts, scroll down to learn the benefits and demerits of using Medium to share your content and determine if it is worth the time.
Advantages
1. Versatility
While Medium primarily works with articles, the platform can also include stories, essays, some other types of texts, and media content. It makes it easier to target a wide audience as well as to find out which format is more appropriate for a specific group of readers.
2. Accessibility
Due to the simple design of the site, even those who have never used online platforms for writing can easily navigate through Medium. It has some writing features that ease the writing process and make it easier for writers to share their work widely, as it can be done without having a personal website of your own.
3. Built-in Audience
Medium offers an opportunity for direct users to a vast audience that is ready to engage with the content available on the platform. This built-in audience can help hasten the process of exposure, and therefore, new writers can reach more people in less time than when writing in their own individual blog or website.
4. Networking and Collaboration
Medium also lets the user comment, recommend the stories, and interact with other writers and publishers. For a writer, such an environment can result in contacts, evaluations, and, at times, even business associations that aid the writer in expanding one’s portfolio.
Disadvantages
1. Content Saturation
For instance, with thousands of articles being published daily, it is relatively easy for individual writers on Medium to get lost. Getting noticed, in general, can only be achieved through the act of consistency or through very creative means of publishing your article.
2. Limited Earnings Potential
Income through Medium depends on the reader’s interest, which is mostly low and will not allow most writers to support themselves through it since it utilizes the Partner Program for monetization. In my experience, I have realized that earnings from the platform can at times be low, making it difficult to rely on Medium as the main source of income.
3. Restricted Content Ownership
One of the cons that come with using Medium to post your articles is some loss of content formatting, dissemination, and earning capabilities. However, it is important to note that the writers can export their work, but ownership and full control of their content remain with the platform, meaning that a writer may not be fully self-employed.
4. Algorithmic Variability
Medium evolves its algorithms and policies over time, which decide what the readers are shown and how that content is presented to them. These changes may require the writer to change the approach if they are to proceed with making some beneficial impact on the audience in the future.
Conclusion
Medium is important and useful for self-promoting and sharing ideas, receiving feedback from the readers, as well as having your own community. However, before choosing the platform as the primary source of publication, the writer should deliberate on several factors, including the competitive environment of the given platform, reduced payout rates, and changes in the algorithms.
