Medium cofounder and CEO Evan Williams might be known as shy. But the 43-year-old
The online publishing startup launched updated versions of its website and Android and iOS apps on Wednesday. The overhaul, in part, included new editing and writing tools, such as the ability to mention other Medium users in posts, a new discovery tab for finding posts and responses, a more modern-looking logo, the ability to publish to Medium through custom website domains and the launch of a publishing API, which allows users to write in other desktop or mobile editors and publish directly to Medium. Williams said earlier this year that Medium doesn't have a meaningful amount of revenue. However, the company is working on new native advertising solutions and subscription models to help writers and publishers profit from using the site. Williams also announced the debut of a content partnership program in which a small group of independent and commercial publishers, including The Awl,
"It’s possible that we’ve haven’t been as obvious as we could be about what’s happening at Medium," Williams said on Wednesday, describing Medium as filling a need that hasn't been met by social networks for deep, smart discussion. "We saw the need to create a better publishing system. We’re happy that today, Medium is the default place to share perspectives on a growing number of issues that matter."
"We’ve done a heck of a lot this year," Williams added.
Williams said that in the past three months, time spent reading in the apps has tripled, and that people spend more time reading on Medium than on the Web. Williams said in March that Medium is making money by helping brands publish on the platform. Saul Carlin, Medium's head of publisher development, said users have been receptive to native advertising campaigns on the site so far.
"We’ve seen that people on Medium will read great professionally produced content wherever it comes from," Carlin said at the event.
Williams described his vision for Medium, founded in 2012, as a democratic, fun and powerful "ideas exchange" where personal, artistic and professional content belong together. Medium continues to play a role in important cultural moments. The social media campaign #ILookLikeAnEngineer, for example, took off because of one engineer's Medium post in August. And this year, President Barack Obama published his State of the Union speech on Medium instead of turning to a traditional news outlet. But right now, Medium is by no means a tool for the masses. In May, the site said it had 25 million unique monthly visitors. A recent infusion of venture capital funding could help boost that metric. Medium raised a $57 million Series B funding round in September, led by Andreessen Horowitz, after securing a $25 million Series A last year.
About 1,500 publications post to Medium, and half of "total time reading" on the site is driven by publishers, the company said. Williams said that allowing creators and publishers to share content on Medium while keeping their own url could encourage thousands of publishers to move their content to the site. Medium's new publishing API should also boost posting activity, said Medium engineer Katie Zhu. The API is integrated with publishing tools such as Blogger, also cofounded by Williams, and WordPress.
"While we’re proud of the editing tools that we’ve built, they weren’t really the point," Zhu said at the event. "No matter where you write, you’ll still get all of [Medium's] typographical attention to detail. You can continue to write using your favorite writing apps."
A series of new tools make it easier to engage with other users on the platform. A new "Mentions" feature allows users to link to other' Medium profiles, and a new "Responses" tool allows users to comment on specific lines of content. It's also now possible to message privately with other users, and a new notification tool now alerts authors when others highlight or respond to their posts or mention their user name. A new "Explore" tab makes it easier to discover posts through featured tags, a "top stories" section and bookmarks, the company said.
The apps' overhaul also includes more subtle updates with the goal of improving simplicity and elegance, like automatic em dashes, new drop caps and a "TK" reminder feature to help users keep track of missing information in their writing. Automatic syncing saves edits make to posts across iOS, Android or desktop.
"We know writing is hard, especially if you are a beginner," said Marcin Wichary, a designer at Medium, said on Wednesday. "We want Medium to help you out and inspire you."
Williams showed off Medium's new geometric logo and announced that the company is rolling out a new marketing campaign highlighting lines from Medium posts, from funny to personal.
"We want to make creators heroes," Williams said. "That’s what it all comes down to."
"I’m convinced we can create a smarter world where everyone has a chance to play," Williams added.
