The Rise of Medium Use Among Politicians
As the 2020 election season begins to heat up, many are trying to reach out to voters through every social media platform they can use, whether that be Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, Snapchat, and most notably, Medium.
In fact, the only 2020 Democratic candidate who does not have a Medium account and was on the debate stage was Marianne Williamson. Every other candidate has had one or is currently using one.
But what makes Medium unique?
Politicians have been using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram almost since they were released. These platforms allow for short-form content.
Politicians and their campaigns can upload pictures, short videos, advertisements, and simple policy recommendations, but not anything substantial. That’s the way these services are built, with character limits and endless feeds.
Which is all important. Candidates do need an easy way to communicate bits of information quickly. However, Medium provides something different, allowing politicians to release their long-form content.
Many candidates are releasing their policy positions on Medium. They are also releasing them on their website, but unless you were specifically going to that candidate’s page to discover what they believe in, you’d have never found it.
The way Medium is built allows for this kind of content to flourish on their platform. Medium is focused on post discoverability and recommendations. The posts you see are tailored to your reading history and interests, which makes it easier to find posts from lesser-known readers.
But why wouldn’t candidates just use WordPress or Blogger, since they were released earlier?
Platforms such as WordPress and Blogger have some community features, where you can subscribe to blogs and see them in your feed.
However, they don’t have the same post recommendation system that Medium has, and they are much more focused on individual blogs and content, rather than cultivating a community of bloggers who share and read together on a consistent platform.
Now, this isn’t the first time a U.S. presidential candidate has used Medium. Both Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine did during their 2016 candidacy for President. Nor is it only presidential candidates who are using Medium. Many Congressional senators and representatives communicate to their constituents via Medium.
The Future
It’s now becoming clear that social media is taking over campaigning. Politicians use both short and long-form media to help communicate their message and differentiate themselves from one another.
Websites like Medium are a great way for politicians to communicate to their constituents or about their policy proposals, without having to go through a press release through a clunky website that no one will probably find or read.
However, there is one thing that could make or break the nearly ubiquitous connection from political candidate to Medium.
THE PAYWALL.
If you discover a post in your feed, chances are it is paywalled, meaning that a) you have to pay to be a Medium member to read it or b) you have to hope that you didn’t use your allowance of 3 articles a month.
Paywalling posts is bad for voters because it can prevent people from communicating with their elected officials and understanding what different candidates believe in.
For example, Michael Bennet’s original post announcing his candidacy was paywalled.
And while every Medium poster can disable the paywall for their post, it prevents their content from being featured by curators on the platform.
Here’s a fix: Offer an easy way for politicians to register themselves as politicians, so they can be free of paywalls and still be featured (especially around election season). Also, while we’re at it, why not create a central election page where people can go to for all the info they need about the candidates?
Medium can still continue making money from those who continue to read Medium and the other content it has to offer.
