2 ms·

I remember seeing a few medium posts on Hacker News a few years ago. They all had good tone management; but when read with a critical eye, they were factually i

I remember seeing a few medium posts on Hacker News a few years ago. They all had good tone management; but when read with a critical eye, they were factually incorrect or had poor comprehension of the subject matter. It got the point where, if I saw "medium.com" next to a link I'd think, "oh, that's a medium post" and not open it. If I accidentally opened a Medium post, I'd close it immediately without reading it. "Medium.com" is a stamp of mediocracy, IMO. I just won't read them.

tonystubblebine 4y ago
You aren't alone. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33223222 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33223222
- gwbas1c 4y ago
  Yeah, after looking through that thread I began to understand my frustration with Medium.com. The problem is Medium.com lowers the barrier to entry for writing a technical blog that appears correct at a glance. The barrier to entry for operating your own blog is marginally high enough to keep out people who misunderstand core concepts in technical writing.
patrick451 4y ago
I agree that "medium.com" is a stamp of mediocrity, and I tend to have the same kneejerk reaction to never read something posted there. However, I'm not sure I agree about the good tone management. There's always been something about medium and most of the articles there that is sort of cringe. It feels kind of like linkedin, where everything is superficial self-promotion, everybody is "thrilled" (a word only used in linkedin posts when you change jobs), and there's too many exclamation points everywhere. None if it feels raw or authentic. Part of this ties into the low technical quality you mention: after reading the n-th generic, un-insightful description of a Kalman filter on medium, you get the sense that grad students are only posting this stuff to build a following, i.e., for the clout.
- burnished 4y ago
  Yes. It never feels like the authors primary purpose is the article or self expression.
- wkat4242 4y ago
  The over-happy sugarcoated PR is not specific to LinkedIn. The entire corporate realm is full of that crap. Entire hordes of marcom people excrete this vile Kool-Aid for mindless corporate drones to spread like happy little slaves It's just that LinkedIn is one of the few places they can do that without being downvoted into oblivion.

tonystubblebine 4y ago

You aren't alone. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33223222 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33223222

gwbas1c 4y ago
Yeah, after looking through that thread I began to understand my frustration with Medium.com. The problem is Medium.com lowers the barrier to entry for writing a technical blog that appears correct at a glance. The barrier to entry for operating your own blog is marginally high enough to keep out people who misunderstand core concepts in technical writing.

patrick451 4y ago

I agree that "medium.com" is a stamp of mediocrity, and I tend to have the same kneejerk reaction to never read something posted there. However, I'm not sure I agree about the good tone management. There's always been something about medium and most of the articles there that is sort of cringe. It feels kind of like linkedin, where everything is superficial self-promotion, everybody is "thrilled" (a word only used in linkedin posts when you change jobs), and there's too many exclamation points everywhere. None if it feels raw or authentic. Part of this ties into the low technical quality you mention: after reading the n-th generic, un-insightful description of a Kalman filter on medium, you get the sense that grad students are only posting this stuff to build a following, i.e., for the clout.

burnished 4y ago
Yes. It never feels like the authors primary purpose is the article or self expression.
wkat4242 4y ago
The over-happy sugarcoated PR is not specific to LinkedIn. The entire corporate realm is full of that crap. Entire hordes of marcom people excrete this vile Kool-Aid for mindless corporate drones to spread like happy little slaves It's just that LinkedIn is one of the few places they can do that without being downvoted into oblivion.