>Since you're counting on them not just to store your writing, but also build flow for it, the inclination is to praise them, to withhold criticism. BZZZT! Wro

>Since you're counting on them not just to store your writing, but also build flow for it, the inclination is to praise them, to withhold criticism. BZZZT! Wrong! Maybe for you, but not for me! I have no ingrained suppositions that the platform, free of charge, which hosts cheap-ass text in a usable format, and seems to be stable, would actually be bothered or compelled to promote my material. Not one bit of assumption on my part. I use it as a writing platform simply because it fits a need, and I didn't have to fork over for a domain and the maintenance that goes along with a self-implemented system. Or, if flow simply refers to it working, yeah, I guess I'm assuming that, but that's like a core competency. It almost reminds me of the Mitch Hedberg joke, the one where a chef becomes a master chef, and then a person asks, "Well, can you farm?" as though they should be a master of every aspect. I write. Medium hosts my writing, and I like the way the software works. Good deal for now, if it changes, I'll tear down and move on (like I did with Blend.io when they pivoted in a way I did not want to follow). If we're talking ownership, well, that's a "backup" issue for each writer. For serious, lengthy pieces, I'm working in a software like Word before I'm posting online. It's just habit, and I can save locally/backup and Medium is the finished, public product. Simple. In my experience - coming from music - the distributor is distinct and separate from the promotions arm. Though they may collaborate (PR working in conjuntion with Distributor to announce big release, etc), they are separate avenues in my opinion. In this piece the author really undercuts their own point by referencing Facebook...mostly because if I had to write a correlative article about the one website where NOT to host music or artistic endeavors because of the single-platform lock-in risks mentioned...it would be Facebook. Anywhere but Facebook. Distribution and Publicity are moving targets, faster now than ever. ReverbNation. That's a site that does distribution and promotion, and I don't think it's very good. BandCamp is more about distribution than promotion, and I see a lot of pretty happy customers over that route. Facebook is, for lack of a better concept, a necessary evil but simply one aspect in a fully functional, diversified approach to coming to market. Which also includes YouTube, the radio of the internet generation.