Founded in 2012 by Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, Medium is quickly becoming one of the world's most popular websites. According to Alexa, Medium.com has risen nearly 100 spots in the past three months alone to become the world's 372nd most-visited site. (If you're not impressed, remember that there are more than 1 billion websites currently in existence).
But Medium is more than just a destination site: It's a hybrid content discovery/publishing platform. And the company just recently announced that in an effort to become a "write-once, publish-anywhere" platform, users will soon be able to write stories in Medium and then publish them as Facebook Instant Articles or Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP).
Whether you're interested in potentially publishing on Medium, or you are just curious to see what the platform is all about, I recommend taking a look at some of the top Medium publications.
A Medium publication is a collection of stories that's usually centered around a particular subject or theme. In addition to running their own publications (some of which you'll see in the list below), Medium allows anyone to create them.
Of course, the downside -- from an SEO perspective -- is that the stories you publish in a Medium publication don't live on your site. In order to pass authority to your own blog, you'd need to use Medium’s canonical URLs. That being said, a Medium publication can still be a great way to reach a new audience with your content.
Regardless of your goals or intentions, here are some of the most popular Medium publications for you to enjoy and/or get inspired by.
8 Medium Publications You Should Be Following
1) Backchannel
Backchannel is one of Medium's in-house publications. It focuses on publishing "lively and meaningful tales and analysis" from the tech world, and has veteran tech journalist Steven Levy as its editor-in-chief. If you're looking for in-depth, well-researched tech news, Backchannel is definitely a publication you want to follow.
But in addition to being a high-quality resource for tech news, Backchannel is perhaps one of the best-designed publications around, and showcases some pretty amazing illustrations and animated GIFs. Just check out this example below from a recent story:
Suggested stories from Backchannel:
2) Life Learning
Life isn't promised. After all, 99.9% of all species go extinct. So how can humanity evolve? Learn, as fast as we can."
That's the copy that greets you on the Life Learning email newsletter landing page. The folks behind that newsletter -- Googler Stephanie Postles and veteran-turned-entrepreneur Chad Grills -- have also created a successful Medium publication with the same name.
Boasting nearly 100 thousand followers, Life Learning is a go-to resource for self-improvement and uncovering life's mysteries. Some of the publication's more well-known contributors include WordStream founder & CTO Larry Kim and investor Ben Horowtiz.
Suggested stories from Life Learning:
- "5 Ways Incredibly Productive People Master Their Time"
- "Usermind" (Note: there is some NSFW language in this one.)
3) Startups, Wanderlust, and Life Hacking
This publication goes by many names, including Startups, Wanderlust, and Life Hacking; #SWLH, which is the initialized, hashtag version of the previous name; as well as simply The Startup, which is what's currently listed on their publication page.
Regardless of what you call the publication, here's what you'll find in it: "Handpicked business, marketing, design, and technology articles for entrepreneurs and startups." Contributors have included the likes of marketer/speaker extraordinaire Seth Godin, as well as an entrepreneur named Dharmesh Shah who works at a little company called HubSpot.
Suggested stories from Startups, Wanderlust, and Life Hacking:
- "'Will this be on the test?' Rethinking online education"
- "The Surprisingly Simple Thing Slack Got Wrong"
4) Bright
Bright is another one of Medium's in-house publications. And like Backchannel, it too features some pretty stellar design work -- as you can tell by the illustration above. But instead of taking on the tech world, Bright's editorial focuses on innovations in education.
Funded by The New Venture Fund and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bright story topics range from education reform to how too much screen time can affect learning. Even if education isn't your field, there's plenty of knowledge to gain from perusing the Bright publication.
Suggested stories from Bright:
- "Automated Teachers, Augmented Reality And Floating Chairs"
- "You Tell Me: When Kids + Screens = Happiness"
5) Personal Growth
If you're looking for some first-hand stories and advice on how to make sense of your chaotic life, Personal Growth might be the publication for you.
Created by writer Dan Pedersen, who also runs a blog called Living With Confidence, Personal Growth features stories from contributors who live both inside and outside of the tech world. Story topics range from life-hacking tips to personal accounts of overcoming adversity.
Suggested stories from Personal Growth:
6) The Coffeelicious
It's hard to pinpoint what The Coffeelicious focuses on in terms of editorial, which is probably due to the fact that, when it was launched, the publication had a rule that it would "accept almost all the submitted stories, because what may not appeal to someone might just be bookmarked by another."
The democratic nature of The Coffeelicious has lead to the publication having more than 450 contributors, all of whom offer different viewpoints and writing styles. From marriage, to drug addiction, to marketing, The Coffeelicious covers a diverse array of topics. It's the perfect publication for uncovering a great story you didn't even know you wanted to read. To quote their tagline: "Look around, relax and enjoy one with a sip of coffee."
Suggested stories from The Coffeelicious:
7) Marketing and Growth Hacking
Created by student/software engineer Lincoln Daniel, Marketing and Growth Hacking is a highly collaborative publication that has featured stories from dozens upon dozens of different writers. The common theme tying all of their stories together, of course, is kayak polo.
Wait, nope, I'm being told "marketing and growth hacking" is the theme. (But in case you were wondering, yes, kayak polo is an actual thing.) Marketing and Growth Hacking story topics run the gambit from SEO tactics and headline-writing tips to learning how to growth hack your own happiness.
Suggested stories from Marketing and Growth Hacking:
- "How I Drove 28k Views and Ranked On Page 1 In 30 Days Without Spending a Dollar"
- "Work Hacks and Tools for the Digital Marketing Pro"
8) The Story
For keeping up to date with all things Medium, there's no better publication than Medium's official blog: The Story. From company updates, to the latest feature rollouts, to curated lists of Medium's best stories, The Story allows you to keep your fingers on Medium's pulse.
Suggested stories from The Story:
Know of any other awesome Medium publications? Tell us about them in the comments section below.
