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What's tragic here is that the author is complaining about one ad-infested, tracker-infested piece of trash of a product, on another ad-infested, tracker-infest

What's tragic here is that the author is complaining about one ad-infested, tracker-infested piece of trash of a product, on another ad-infested, tracker-infested piece of trash that is Medium. Why the the fuck people still write on Medium even though it prevents people from reading content after a few times without either paying or logging in is beyond me.

yunohn 5y ago
There’s ads on Medium? I’ve never seen any. BTW you can easily open an article in incognito mode, to bypass the login-wall. They do however use analytics, like any other platform that wishes to quantify engagement and provide value to their content creators.
- throwawayswede 5y ago
  With or without ads, Medium is the absolute essence of trash software.
  - jerbearito 5y ago
    Medium had a brief period when it was enjoyable and not overflowing with clickbait, listicles, and ads. Now it is, indeed, trash software.
    - behnamoh 5y ago
      Just like Quora at its early age.
FearlessNebula 5y ago
What are some good alternatives? I’m not a fan of Medium either. Their user experience is very disrespectful. Edit: alternatives for a reader
- jamietanna 5y ago
  I'm pretty biased myself, but I always recommend folks publish to their own sites (https://www.jvt.me/posts/2019/07/22/why-website/ https://www.jvt.me/posts/2019/07/22/why-website/) If discoverability is lacking there's quite a few aggregate platforms that can boost readership / visibility of your site, but always publishing on your own site first!
  - helloworld11 5y ago
    You say that discoverability options for individual websites exist, if you could, please name a couple that you recommend, because that one issues is a huge problem for would-be writers and one major reason why they do indeed pick sites like Medium. It's easy to criticize big platforms from one angle but how thousands of other people believe they will help them should be taken into consideration as well.
- haunter 5y ago
  Github Pages
  - OOPMan 5y ago
    Second that
- throwawayswede 5y ago
  If the author is willing to spend 30 to 60 minutes (depending on technical skills) to learn how to set things up, nothing beats static websites. My current favorite is Zola, but there literally hundreds of options with varying pros and cons. Otherwise, substack seems to have a better business model imo. I wouldn't use it myself because I don't trust them to stay as they are when/if they corner the market, but for the time being I think Substack is what Medium pretends to be/
brazzy 5y ago
Where do you see the author complaining?? He's celebrating the tracker-induced trashiness of the ads!
- throwawayswede 5y ago
  I have to admit that I didn't read it since it's on that trash website, but I just guessed. I block Medium on my network.
  - chrisstu 5y ago
    Yeah commenting on an article without reading it kinda sucks doesn't it?
    - throwawayswede 5y ago
      Not in this case, I wasn't commenting on the substance.
neycoda 5y ago
I use Instagram in a browser different than the one I use with my personal details, and it's completely anonymized. I did this before Facebook bought it. I've never posted my face or other personal details there. Nobody I follow seems to care, and only some know it's me. I always thought Instagram was for pretty pictures, when people misuse it as a social network.
tonystubblebine 5y ago
> prevents people from reading content after a few times without either paying or logging in is beyond me. I don't think this is fair or accurate. Authors are choosing to put their articles behind Medium's paywall because they want to get paid. So when you see a paywall that's the author's choice. It's not any different than a Substack newsletter other than scale. So to say Medium is preventing people from reading... it's really that Medium is home for a lot of writers who want to get paid for their work and probably wouldn't even have written the piece you are trying to read without that incentive. Then this Skymall article isn't even behind the paywall and doesn't have any sort of block on it or login wall. Or am I seeing something different than you? I tested it while not logged in. FWIW, there is a ton of great writing on Medium even if there is also a lot of trash. For example, I helped port the full back catalog of books from The Pragmatic Programmers over to Medium. Those are great and it's great to have easy access to all of them.
- behnamoh 5y ago
  Please don't defend Medium. Just, don't.
  - tonystubblebine 5y ago
    Medium has a lot of great articles including this one which you just submitted and that trended here on HN. https://arnuldondata.medium.com/julia-and-the-reincarnation-of-lisp-f60cacd5822c https://arnuldondata.medium.com/julia-and-the-reincarnation-... Also, isn't the best thing about HN comments when you get comments from someone with actual knowledge? I can't imagine there is anyone on HN who knows more about Medium than I do.
- throwawayswede 5y ago
  > I helped port the full back catalog of books from The Pragmatic Programmers over to Medium People feed the beast and then wonder why it's come back for more.
planb 5y ago
I feel you. I hate Medium, too. But I hate even more that this is the top most comment on hn, even though you admit to not even having read the article and clearly don’t know what it’s about. Sorry, I know this comment is OT as well…
- blacktriangle 5y ago
  "Great Minds Discuss Ideas. Average Minds Discuss Events. Small Minds Discuss People." Not to accuse anybody here of being small minded, but I think the point is relevant. Instagram transitioning from a photo sharing social network to a marketing catalog pretending to be organic content is an event, but it's only a single social network. The larger trend of the internet transitioning from individual home pages to walled garden social networks that then push hidden marketing over actual substance is a much larger concern that is going on, and the posters point about the irony of using Medium to complain about the issue is spot on and I'd argue relevant to the real conversation, which is how interesting, quality, quirky self-published content of the internet has been replaced by walled gardens showing you want their algorithm wants you to see.
- throwawayswede 5y ago
  > clearly don’t know what it’s about. How is it clear to you? I got the context from other comments... My point was not about the content of the article specifically, but more about the obliviousness of this (and many other) authors. It's like criticizing running an Alexa because it's like bugging your house while, at the same time, using Google's or Apple's thing. Total whoosh! What's silly here is that you felt the need to reply on my comment as well, knowing that yours is not related to the original topic. Do you not see this as mildly duplicitous?
aembleton 5y ago
Use the following uBO rules: medium.com##div[data-test-id="post-sidebar"] medium.com##.branch-journeys-top:upward(2) medium.com##div[id^="lo-highlight-meter"] medium.com##+js(aeld, scroll) medium.com##+js(aeld, touchstart)

yunohn 5y ago

There’s ads on Medium? I’ve never seen any. BTW you can easily open an article in incognito mode, to bypass the login-wall. They do however use analytics, like any other platform that wishes to quantify engagement and provide value to their content creators.

throwawayswede 5y ago
With or without ads, Medium is the absolute essence of trash software.
- jerbearito 5y ago
  Medium had a brief period when it was enjoyable and not overflowing with clickbait, listicles, and ads. Now it is, indeed, trash software.
  - behnamoh 5y ago
    Just like Quora at its early age.

FearlessNebula 5y ago

What are some good alternatives? I’m not a fan of Medium either. Their user experience is very disrespectful. Edit: alternatives for a reader

jamietanna 5y ago
I'm pretty biased myself, but I always recommend folks publish to their own sites (https://www.jvt.me/posts/2019/07/22/why-website/ https://www.jvt.me/posts/2019/07/22/why-website/) If discoverability is lacking there's quite a few aggregate platforms that can boost readership / visibility of your site, but always publishing on your own site first!
- helloworld11 5y ago
  You say that discoverability options for individual websites exist, if you could, please name a couple that you recommend, because that one issues is a huge problem for would-be writers and one major reason why they do indeed pick sites like Medium. It's easy to criticize big platforms from one angle but how thousands of other people believe they will help them should be taken into consideration as well.
haunter 5y ago
Github Pages
- OOPMan 5y ago
  Second that
throwawayswede 5y ago
If the author is willing to spend 30 to 60 minutes (depending on technical skills) to learn how to set things up, nothing beats static websites. My current favorite is Zola, but there literally hundreds of options with varying pros and cons. Otherwise, substack seems to have a better business model imo. I wouldn't use it myself because I don't trust them to stay as they are when/if they corner the market, but for the time being I think Substack is what Medium pretends to be/

brazzy 5y ago

Where do you see the author complaining?? He's celebrating the tracker-induced trashiness of the ads!

throwawayswede 5y ago
I have to admit that I didn't read it since it's on that trash website, but I just guessed. I block Medium on my network.
- chrisstu 5y ago
  Yeah commenting on an article without reading it kinda sucks doesn't it?
  - throwawayswede 5y ago
    Not in this case, I wasn't commenting on the substance.

neycoda 5y ago

I use Instagram in a browser different than the one I use with my personal details, and it's completely anonymized. I did this before Facebook bought it. I've never posted my face or other personal details there. Nobody I follow seems to care, and only some know it's me. I always thought Instagram was for pretty pictures, when people misuse it as a social network.

tonystubblebine 5y ago

> prevents people from reading content after a few times without either paying or logging in is beyond me. I don't think this is fair or accurate. Authors are choosing to put their articles behind Medium's paywall because they want to get paid. So when you see a paywall that's the author's choice. It's not any different than a Substack newsletter other than scale. So to say Medium is preventing people from reading... it's really that Medium is home for a lot of writers who want to get paid for their work and probably wouldn't even have written the piece you are trying to read without that incentive. Then this Skymall article isn't even behind the paywall and doesn't have any sort of block on it or login wall. Or am I seeing something different than you? I tested it while not logged in. FWIW, there is a ton of great writing on Medium even if there is also a lot of trash. For example, I helped port the full back catalog of books from The Pragmatic Programmers over to Medium. Those are great and it's great to have easy access to all of them.

behnamoh 5y ago
Please don't defend Medium. Just, don't.
- tonystubblebine 5y ago
  Medium has a lot of great articles including this one which you just submitted and that trended here on HN. https://arnuldondata.medium.com/julia-and-the-reincarnation-of-lisp-f60cacd5822c https://arnuldondata.medium.com/julia-and-the-reincarnation-... Also, isn't the best thing about HN comments when you get comments from someone with actual knowledge? I can't imagine there is anyone on HN who knows more about Medium than I do.
throwawayswede 5y ago
> I helped port the full back catalog of books from The Pragmatic Programmers over to Medium People feed the beast and then wonder why it's come back for more.

planb 5y ago

I feel you. I hate Medium, too. But I hate even more that this is the top most comment on hn, even though you admit to not even having read the article and clearly don’t know what it’s about. Sorry, I know this comment is OT as well…

blacktriangle 5y ago
"Great Minds Discuss Ideas. Average Minds Discuss Events. Small Minds Discuss People." Not to accuse anybody here of being small minded, but I think the point is relevant. Instagram transitioning from a photo sharing social network to a marketing catalog pretending to be organic content is an event, but it's only a single social network. The larger trend of the internet transitioning from individual home pages to walled garden social networks that then push hidden marketing over actual substance is a much larger concern that is going on, and the posters point about the irony of using Medium to complain about the issue is spot on and I'd argue relevant to the real conversation, which is how interesting, quality, quirky self-published content of the internet has been replaced by walled gardens showing you want their algorithm wants you to see.
throwawayswede 5y ago
> clearly don’t know what it’s about. How is it clear to you? I got the context from other comments... My point was not about the content of the article specifically, but more about the obliviousness of this (and many other) authors. It's like criticizing running an Alexa because it's like bugging your house while, at the same time, using Google's or Apple's thing. Total whoosh! What's silly here is that you felt the need to reply on my comment as well, knowing that yours is not related to the original topic. Do you not see this as mildly duplicitous?

aembleton 5y ago

Use the following uBO rules: medium.com##div[data-test-id="post-sidebar"] medium.com##.branch-journeys-top:upward(2) medium.com##div[id^="lo-highlight-meter"] medium.com##+js(aeld, scroll) medium.com##+js(aeld, touchstart)