It’s no surprise I (heart) ‘the interwebs’. It’s my life’s work, my passion, and my fun. I’m not always keen about certain aspects of it, though: our complete lack of privacy and willingness to forfeit it are my most common complaints about social media. But I’m from a time before the internet: when you had to find information through the Dewey Decimal card catalogue instead of Google, something my teenage nephews have clearly never heard of, and sometimes my scepticism gets the better of me when I hear of yet another social platform.  Medium may be the first one to change my mind.

Twitter co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone developed Medium out of an interest of developing a social sharing site the focuses on quality content while allowing an ease of use for all users. Although its BETA testing is only open to a small, select number of contributors (no date of roll-out is available yet), their vision is both clear and successful. Blending elements from every decent social site out there, and then some – including Reddit, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr, Medium allows you to post images and content, which can be upvoted with a small green toggle and then edited by the public. Subjects are grouped by categories, which allows for better organization, but its clean layout makes it easy to navigate.

 

So far, every bit of content I’ve looked at reeks of authenticity. It’s genuine, excited and honest – many of the qualities that drive return visits to social sites in the first place. My favourite part has been the image sharing section, and I think it’s what will establish the niche Medium is seeking.

For instance, can you look at this and not smile?

 

I not only want to read it, I want to be a part of it. It’s awesome, and funny, and a great reminder how far we’ve come in developing into a global collective. There’s no trolling (yet), no snark; just genuine glimpses into the lives of others, without the sort of behaviour that makes 4Chan such a cringe-worthy example of how not to be. There is a unique power is such a positive collective, and I am really excited about the possibility that Medium holds.

Can I be absolutely sure it stays this way? Of course not – it is the internet, after all. But I’m keeping an eye on it through my twitter account (@infinitesass), and believe me when I say I’ll be reporting on it again. I just have to go find some pictures from my childhood first.

Jim Hedger

Jim Hedger is an organic SEO and digital marketing specialist. Jim has been involved in the online marketing industry since 1998 and a SEO since 1999. Best known as a broadcaster, interviewer, content writer and search industry commentator, Jim is a frequent conference speaker and organizer. He hosts the search focused radio show Webcology on WebmasterRadio.FM and is a WebmasterRadio.FM conference interviewer. Jim brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, passion and creative thinking to each project. Preferring a teamwork approach, Jim strives to inform and train his clients and their staff to run and maintain their own search and social media efforts.

More Posts

Follow Me:

This entry was posted on August 16, 2012 at 1:05 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Bria Jordan - SEO by Jim Hedger No Comments Yet