It’s Official. Medium Is Now A Social Media Platform.

With their newest design, Medium has transformed into a full-fledged social media site.

The new Medium.com redesign embraces common social media UI/UX. But is it a better experience?

I don’t blame the Medium.com devs.

“Stickiness” is what keeps users on a platform.

And it doesn’t matter if that platform focuses on writing or something else. The goal for any website or app is usage and engagement.

And what better way to increase stickiness than create a user interface that encourages users to post and engage with content.

Over the last few years, Medium has slowly progressed into what it is today.

With their new design, the writing platform has transformed into a full-fledged social media site. I saw it coming. Many other seasoned writers on the platform had seen this coming, too.

With yesterday’s announcement, “A Better Medium.com” on their 3 Min Read blog, it’s now official.

I’ve seen members—mostly writers—speaking to how the “Better Medium” reminds them of Twitter’s desktop interface. There’s no denying the comparison.

In my opinion, Medium looks cleaner.

More organized. And more focused on what matters.

But what matters most on Medium?

Image Credit: 3 Min Read

What matters on Medium is the same as other social media sites.

The content.

And Medium has always fostered and embraced great content.

But great content is a misnomer.

You’d think high-quality writing would constitute great content, right?

Well, you’re wrong.

It’s more than having stories packed with high-quality content.

In fact, the only thing that matters to Medium’s devs and the writers who make a living through the platform is read-time (i.e. “stickiness).

If your content doesn’t stick with readers, then the algorithm doesn’t reward it with more screen…