What if Medium integrated the story-boosting feature like on Meta and LinkedIn? Will it be ‘fair’ to all of us?

✍ Kamal O. Touhami

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Medium has long been committed to its free-ad model, offering a space for us as writers to share our work without the intrusion of ads. However, with the growing popularity of paid-boosting features on other social media platforms, Medium may want to carefully consider its stance on this approach.

Currently, Medium does not offer a direct paid boosting feature and is not considering integrating the feature either, at least at the time of writing this article. But there are two existing systems that somewhat resemble it on Medium.

Medium publications

On these publications, writers can submit their stories to communities of like-minded readers. If selected, their stories will be promoted to a wider audience within the publication.

Story curation

Getting curated on Medium means that your story gets featured in front of a wider audience on the platform. Curators and internal editors take good-performing stories, review them, and then feature them on Medium’s best stories for wider distribution. These recommendations can significantly increase a story’s visibility and readership.

While these existing systems provide some level of promotion for writers, they may not be sufficient for those who want more immediate and targeted exposure. This pressure might lead to a serious consideration on the part of Medium to integrate such a feature for those who are willing to pay some extra money to have their stories reach new readers.

How likely is it?

The introduction of a paid-boosting feature on Medium would present both opportunities and challenges for writers. On the one hand, it could give writers more control over the visibility of their work and help them reach a wider audience. This could lead to increased readership, engagement, and potential monetization opportunities.

On the other hand, a paid boosting feature could raise concerns about fairness among all Medium members, namely affordability and disadvantage.

If only writers with the financial resources could afford to boost their stories, it could create an uneven playing field and disadvantage those who rely on organic discovery.

Furthermore, this disparity could disrupt the platform’s free-ad model and potentially lead to an influx of low-quality content, which might lead some to abandon the platform altogether.

Values carved in stone

Medium has not yet made any official statements about the possibility of introducing a paid boosting feature. However, the platform has stated that it is committed to providing a fair and equitable experience for all writers. This suggests that any paid-boosting feature would hypothetically need to be carefully designed and implemented to ensure that it does not compromise the platform’s core values.

An ad-free platform

While Medium’s current model relies on subscriptions and reader support, a paid-boosting feature could potentially be used to generate additional revenue for the platform. This could mean that writers could earn a bit more, help offset the costs of operation, and attract more members.

However, it is important to strike a balance between promoting a boosting feature and maintaining the platform’s ad-free environment.

As a result, some users may begin to lose faith in the platform and believe that the ad-free model might also be changed in the future, turning the formerly distinctive model into one that is similar to any other social networking site that is rife with advertisements.

Final thoughts

It is unclear if Medium will choose to add a paid-boosting tool or not. Nonetheless, the debates around this subject show how content production and marketing are always changing. Platforms like Medium will need to figure out how to strike a balance between the requirements of readers and writers while still making enough money to keep running as they develop.

Hi! My name is Kemal, and I hope you enjoyed reading this piece. If you did, then clap and highlight the parts that resonated with you the most. Share with us your thoughts in the comment section below. I can’t wait to discuss your views and exchange ideas. Maybe we’ll learn something from each other.

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