Collections: Curating a More Browsable Medium

Summary

Medium has introduced a new feature called collections in their iOS and Android apps, aiming to enhance the reading experience by curating content into browsable topics and themes.

Abstract

Medium is enhancing its platform to make it easier for readers to discover great stories and diverse perspectives. The new update introduces collections, a curated selection of content organized by topics and themes, available on Medium's mobile apps. This feature blends personalized interests with explorable content threads, offering a mix of popular verticals and timely events. Collections are currently curated by Medium and a select group of trusted testers, with plans to eventually allow all Medium users to create their own. The new home experience is designed to be more browsable, integrating Medium stories, people, and publications, as well as ideas from the wider web. Medium emphasizes the importance of human curation to filter content and guide readers' attention to meaningful stories, and they are committed to evolving this feature based on user feedback.

Opinions

Medium values the role of human curators in creating a great reading experience, believing they bring a unique sensibility and can act as a filter for readers.
The platform sees the potential in collections to not only showcase the best of Medium but also to allow users to curate content around specific topics, issues, or themes.
Medium is excited about the future of collections and considers this update to be just the first step in an ongoing process of experimentation and learning.
The company encourages readers to engage with the new feature and provide feedback to help improve the curation system.

Collections: Curating a More Browsable Medium

So many great stories are published every day on Medium — it’s hard to keep up. We’re building a platform for authors to reach their audiences and for readers to find compelling stories and diverse perspectives.

Today, we’re making a change to our iOS and Android apps to bring a bit of serendipity to our reading experience. Now it will be even easier to find that “Formation” think piece, ~new media~ analysis, or firsthand account of being a juvenile in an adult prison. We’ve built a brand new browsable reading experience that integrates your personalized interests with explorable threads of content and diverse viewpoints across different topics.

Don’t have it? Get the iOS or Android app.

Our new home experience is powered by a feature called collections. The top list of sections on our home screen will be a mix of popular verticals (like Politics or Culture) and more specific, timely events (think the Oscars or Apple vs. the FBI). You’ll be able to find new collections in these sections every day, curated by Medium and a handful of trusted testers—for now. If you’re interested, you can also read about our curation principles. Collections are homes for topic or theme-based content from Medium and beyond that will allow users to bring together Medium stories, people, and publications to follow, as well ideas from the rest of the web.

We believe that in order to create a great reading experience for humans, other humans should be part of that process. There’s a unique sensibility that individual curators bring, whether that’s a specific tone, voice, or simply good taste. They can help act as a filter for readers in guiding our limited time and attention to things that matter, calling out stories that haven’t yet been seen by many, helping to easily showcase the big stories of the day, or sometimes just adding a dose of weird and wonderful. Today, collection creation is only open to a small group of trusted testers. Eventually, we want to open the ability to create collections and allow everyone on Medium to curate around a specific topic, issue, or theme — that’s where the true power of this system really lies. If you want to stay updated on the collections feature, you can add your name to the interest list.

We’re really excited about the potential for collections and what we’ve done with our new home experience to showcase the best of Medium. It’s live in our apps today and will be available on web in the coming weeks. But this is only the first step—we’re experimenting and learning as we go. So if you don’t yet have our apps… 👀

Get the iOS or Android app today and start browsing. Then let us know what you think at [email protected].