4 ms·

I just don't get why people consider Medium to be so remarkable or innovative. The same (silly) logic was once applied to facebook. "It's just another friendst

by zaidf 10y ago

I just don't get why people consider Medium to be so remarkable or innovative. The same (silly) logic was once applied to facebook. "It's just another friendster/myspace!" people said.

halestock 10y ago
Same with Slack, for that matter.
niftich 10y ago
Well, it was. It bootstrapped its userbase with college students, creating an air of exclusivity and giving highschoolers something to look forward to. The profiles were clean-cut and professional, as opposed to the garishly styled HTML themes and autoplaying music on Myspace. Once they opened up to everyone, they captured an entire generation. And once they introduced Chat, they basically killed every other IM service [1]. At this point, it was game over for everyone else. Meanwhile, Medium is another Tumblr, or another Blogger, or another LiveJournal, but the visual design attracts thought-piece bloggers instead of personal ones. This is a self-selecting but heterogeneous group, so there's no strong network effects. How do they grow beyond this, or adapt to monetize their existing userbase? What makes them think they won't just jump to the next free blog host? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11114518 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11114518
nawitus 10y ago
It's not silly logic if it's true. Medium may or may not have better features / quality than alternatives. You need to actually argue why Facebook is better than Friendster or Myspace to invalidate the argument that Facebook is just like Friendster or Myspace.
- fuzzfactor 10y ago
  Roger. I have seen no indication that facebook is anything other than Myspace with more capital. Many can also make the argument that facebook is worse than Myspace, quite validly for a number of reasons.
vit05 10y ago
Some people are talking about charge for premium content. Others are talking about WordPress and Blogger. Am I missing something, or is the text just like @ev want to go in the opposite direction? And making money from opposing models would act as an anchor, preventing from following the direction they believe. [i]So, we are shifting our resources and attention to defining a new model for writers and creators to be rewarded, based on the value they’re creating for people. And toward building a transformational product for curious humans who want to get smarter about the world every day.[/i] He wants to give great rewards to people who create great content. It's not just about views, numbers of followers, or how many people shared the content. It is about how this content impacts other people's lives and how positive it could be to have your brand or signature supporting the creator. I personally think it's kind of hard to achieve this on a big scale. It is the opposite of the most successful program on the internet. Google AdWords. But will change a lot of concepts if he succeed

by zaidf 10y ago

I just don't get why people consider Medium to be so remarkable or innovative. The same (silly) logic was once applied to facebook. "It's just another friendster/myspace!" people said.

halestock 10y ago

Same with Slack, for that matter.

niftich 10y ago

Well, it was. It bootstrapped its userbase with college students, creating an air of exclusivity and giving highschoolers something to look forward to. The profiles were clean-cut and professional, as opposed to the garishly styled HTML themes and autoplaying music on Myspace. Once they opened up to everyone, they captured an entire generation. And once they introduced Chat, they basically killed every other IM service [1]. At this point, it was game over for everyone else. Meanwhile, Medium is another Tumblr, or another Blogger, or another LiveJournal, but the visual design attracts thought-piece bloggers instead of personal ones. This is a self-selecting but heterogeneous group, so there's no strong network effects. How do they grow beyond this, or adapt to monetize their existing userbase? What makes them think they won't just jump to the next free blog host? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11114518 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11114518

nawitus 10y ago

It's not silly logic if it's true. Medium may or may not have better features / quality than alternatives. You need to actually argue why Facebook is better than Friendster or Myspace to invalidate the argument that Facebook is just like Friendster or Myspace.

fuzzfactor 10y ago
Roger. I have seen no indication that facebook is anything other than Myspace with more capital. Many can also make the argument that facebook is worse than Myspace, quite validly for a number of reasons.

vit05 10y ago

Some people are talking about charge for premium content. Others are talking about WordPress and Blogger. Am I missing something, or is the text just like @ev want to go in the opposite direction? And making money from opposing models would act as an anchor, preventing from following the direction they believe. [i]So, we are shifting our resources and attention to defining a new model for writers and creators to be rewarded, based on the value they’re creating for people. And toward building a transformational product for curious humans who want to get smarter about the world every day.[/i] He wants to give great rewards to people who create great content. It's not just about views, numbers of followers, or how many people shared the content. It is about how this content impacts other people's lives and how positive it could be to have your brand or signature supporting the creator. I personally think it's kind of hard to achieve this on a big scale. It is the opposite of the most successful program on the internet. Google AdWords. But will change a lot of concepts if he succeed