The Loudest Megaphone

Thank you for the thoughtful response, Polytique (cool handle too!).

I agree with you about being outside-the-lines and authentic — this is a good thing about the platform. Social media is at its best when it can do that, and Twitter and Medium (owned by the same people) are among the best at it.

But if Twitter’s purpose is to “voice your opinion and thoughts,” then it can certainly be a platform for discussion as well.

• Twitter and Medium would both fit this description, as you suggest.
• Twitter and Medium are both platforms where people pump out content, broadcast-style too.

To me, the bi-directional nature of these platforms is the source of their true power. Another megaphone is not really that useful, because there’s always someone with a louder one.

I like that the folks who run Twitter and Medium have stayed pretty true to their ideals. It’s also been the source of their most persistent problems. I examine this more in the following episode of my podcast: A New Direction for Medium: Can Ev Williams Save the Web?

Thank you again!