A Brief History of Medium and the Strategy Turns of swyx.io

A Brief History of Medium and the Strategy Turns of swyx.io

If you want to succeed on any digital publishing platform, it is essential that you understand how the platform evolved over time, what triggered these changes, and why certain changes affected writers differently. This early characterization of Medium is important to understand— Medium was different from Blogger because it sorts blog posts by topic rather than author. Collections appear in a very visual grid format, with the highest-ranked post always at the top. Collections can also be private — for sharing with a select group of family or friends — or public, for the world and his wife to enjoy. You’ll now see this button in the top right when you’re editing a new post. Click it to reveal a secret link to your post, which you can send via email to anyone you want feedback from. Those invited can leave feedback via our notes feature — which now includes highlighting text: Once you make changes (or not) based on this feedback, anyone who made notes before you published will be listed in the “Thanks to” section of the post.

Medium, the three-year-old online publishing platform run by one of the founders of Twitter, has spent much of its infancy assiduously courting members of the political class. The pitch is clear: Get your message out with none of the editorial interference that comes with old-school media. But rather than doing an even division between articles, Medium will weight payments toward whichever articles a subscriber gives the most claps to. You can choose to participate in this system, on a per-story basis. Medium remains an open platform, and we recognize that many writers (for a variety of reasons) don’t want to have their stories be part of Medium’s metered paywall. Medium also seeks to help quality stories gain more exposure. That’s where the curation system comes in.

On the other hand, swyx.io, a platform that focuses on blogging and building an audience, has its own unique strategy. Experts — who can build an audience in the middle of a desert — understand that product first and building in private has benefits. Better to be rich and anonymous than rich and trapped by your business. First-time founders are obsessed with product. Second-time founders are obsessed with distribution. There is a tradeoff between blogging on your own site (more ownership and email list building) vs blogging on a community site like Medium, Dev.to, or Hashnode (more discoverability and social features) vs microblogging on social media like Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook (even more discoverability and social).

The strategy for swyx.io suggests starting with blogging on a community site and then transitioning to your own site. This approach allows for initial exposure and leveraging the community's discoverability and social features. However, as you establish yourself, it is important to have your own platform for more ownership and building your email list.

Interestingly, as swyx.io emphasizes the importance of building an audience and product first, they also highlight the significance of regulation in an industry. Once you are established, you want your industry to be as regulated as possible to make it harder for newer startups to come up the way you did and to draw clear lines on complying with the letter of the law instead of the endless task of making tradeoffs on behalf of all stakeholders. Today's success stories are based on yesterday's rules.

In conclusion, understanding the evolution and characteristics of platforms like Medium and the strategies employed by platforms like swyx.io can provide valuable insights for digital publishing success. Here are three actionable pieces of advice to consider:

1. Start by leveraging community sites like Medium, Dev.to, or Hashnode to gain initial exposure and take advantage of their discoverability and social features.

2. As you establish yourself and build an audience, consider transitioning to your own platform to have more ownership and control over your content and email list.

3. Recognize the importance of regulation in your industry as you grow and aim to draw clear lines on complying with the law, making it harder for newer startups to compete on the same level.

By incorporating these strategies and understanding the evolution of digital publishing platforms, you can position yourself for success in the ever-changing landscape of online content creation.