Facebook Is Creating A New Writing Platform —Can It Beat Medium?

Facebook recently announced they’re launching a Self-Publishing Platform for Writers and Journalists to monetize their content.

I was shocked when I heard the news.

Then again, though, I wasn’t so shocked.

For the last three years, I’ve seen more organic reach for my videos on Facebook than on Youtube. The organic reach for videos on Facebook is what allowed me to grow a page to 500,000 followers while my Youtube channel lags significantly behind at 140,000 subscribers.

I’ve known Facebook is a dope platform to be on for a while.

Now that they’re creating an entire “platform” for writers, my interest is definitely piqued.

I’ll talk a bit about why I’m bearish, first, before I get into why I’m excited about this new platform, which should be rolling out in the next few months.

This Is More For Journalists Than Anything

Campbell Brown, Facebook’s VP of global news partnerships, had this to say about the new platform:

“A large part of this initiative is aimed at supporting independent local journalists who are often the lone voice covering a given community,”

So, basically, this is for journalists first and “writers,” second.

Take into consideration, too, that this news comes after Facebook’s disagreement with the Australian government over the country’s new law requiring internet platforms to pay for news content.

The bevy of evidence points towards this new platform being more of a tool for journalists than writers/bloggers who want to grow their own platform.

Lack Of Monetization Options

So, according to Variety, Facebook says they’re going to allow writers to make money through monetization tools, starting with Subscriptions.

Cool.

More subscriptions.

Honestly, at this point I’m fine with them slapping ads on my content because nobody’s going to pay me any significant money to read my content every month. $5 per month isn’t exactly Christmas when you get down to it, and for new writers who are trying to make a name for themselves, they’ll be lucky to get 3 people to subscribe to them.

Yay! $15!

Give me a fucking break.

I’ve always looked at Subscriptions as a really dumb way to monetize for individuals.

The best way to make money is to just use the organic reach that platforms give you to grow an email list and sell your own products.

The monetization tools that Facebook develops aren’t going to make you rich as a writer. What you do with the organic reach? Well, that’ll be the real Ace in the hole for the smart ones.

It Might Actually Be Good For Indie Writers, Though

So, one thing’s been clear to me since 2018: I don’t bet against Facebook.

Ever since my first video got 1,000,000 views there, I’ve never underestimated that platform ever again.

Just because they’re focusing on journalism doesn’t mean that this new platform won’t be good for indie writers/bloggers, too.

Here’s why I think that..

Facebook Has A Gigantic User Base Built In

Facebook’s user base dwarfs Medium’s. Medium is like a speck of dirt on Planet Earth and Facebook, well, Facebook IS planet earth.

So yeah.

2.8 billion people use Facebook. How many people use Medium? They don’t even get 200,000,000 monthly views here.

What that means for you is, if Facebook’s new platform is ANY good, then you’ll be able to get in front of the biggest audience on the internet.

That’s fucking dope.

Facebook Will Actively Help People Discover You

Variety’s bombshell article stated Facebook will “help audiences easily discover new content and writers.”

So not only are they creating a new platform for us, they’re going to help people find us. That’s a nice touch.

What’s The Verdict Here?

The verdict is, it’s too early to tell. There’s definitely promise.

Given Facebook’s track record for this kind of stuff, from Facebook Gaming to Facebook video and Facebook groups, I’d say there’s a good possibility this could be something worth looking into.

More competition for Medium and Substack is always a good thing. Medium’s probably looking at this news with an eyebrow raised.

What This Means For Medium

Hopefully more competition will force Medium to think in terms of performance instead of, well, whatever the fuck it’s thinking in terms of right now.

Should you abandon Medium for Facebook’s new platform? Of course not. Medium is still the top dog in this space, and will likely continue to be for the next year or two.

I suggest you go dabble in Facebook’s platform whenever it goes live. See what it’s all about. If you get good organic reach after your first 10 posts, then maybe it’s worth continuing with.

Get my free 5-day Medium writing course right here. It’ll teach you how to write five posts per week and become a top writer on Medium. :)