New features in “Medium”?

I have been using Medium for sometime now and I found this is a great platform for reader-writer community.

The best part is it does not show unwanted ads. Moreover, publications like ILLUMINATION are a great help for a new writer to reach wider range of reading community. There are multiple options to reach maximum readers by following them,reading their stories, messaging them and connect to them via different social media platforms. As a new entrant in this ocean of stories and write-ups, I find the portal very user friendly.

I always have a desire to optimize and improve a system and hence I am bringing up some features which are not available in the medium in my eyes. If these additional user friendly features are added, then the portal would be further refined and improvised. As someone says “Even the best can be improved”, we can always propose such ideas to make it further better.

I would like to add a note here, if someone knows that these features are already there in the portal, please feel free to highlight and comment. I want to make sure I am not proposing anything which is already available.

Here are some ideas which came up for now.

1. Profile visitors check / Who viewed your profile

Many of us know about the corporate portal app called “linked in”. There is an option in Linked in where you see how many visitors visited your profile. If there is any such option in medium, it would be great. However for a portal like medium, this option is not mandatory. Below is the snapshot from a sample profile visitors option in Linked in

2. Mobile app version Vs Desktop version- “Publication” button

I could see a mismatch in the home options between Mobile and Desktop or I am missing something here? When I check in desktop, I can see “Publications” button on the home drop down, however in mobile version, it is not there. If this is really a mismatch, then Medium must incorporate this feature in the mobile app.

Here is the snapshot.

3. Mobile app version Vs Desktop version- “stats” button

If I check my “stats” from my mobile app, then I don’t get to see the total views,read and fan counts for 30 days like the way I see in desktop version.

Here is the snapshot

4. Referral program :

I am not sure if we have “referral program” in medium. But if not then like many other platforms , we can have a referral program here as well. This will increase the serious and right footfall in the forums. As you get unlimited access with a paid membership, one who joins as a paid member can pull other interested friends and families who are interested to contribute in writing and reading.

The referral amount may be a minimum amount but it can be a real enabler for even publications to attract valuable writers.

5. Private chatting option:

We can send private message to a writer with these options in medium but I don’t see any constant messaging window like other platforms, linked in, Facebook have.With this feature in the portal , we can exchange information, ideas and thoughts . The private message option is very limited and has words restriction.

6. Emoji options:

We all have a very good option to highlight what we like in the paragraph of a story. But if we can include options of having other emojis , then it will be meaningful for the reader to express what they feel about any particular line or paragraph.

Please comment if you like these ideas. If we can reach to Medium portal developer team, they can think of in future.