Welcome to Medium

An interactive introduction to my favorite reading and writing community

Hi. I’m Tony, CEO of Medium. Welcome! I’ve been writing on Medium since it launched in 2012, and I became the CEO of Medium ten years later in 2022.

The author. Before he started regularly writing on Medium.

I can’t promise that if you write on Medium for a decade you’ll become our next CEO, but I can promise you that spending time with Medium will deepen your understanding of the world — whether you’re reading, writing, participating in a community within a publication, or doing all three!

I want to share my perspective with you on what Medium is, why I think Medium matters, and how I think you can get the most out of Medium.

What Medium is

Medium is a place for reading, writing, and curating human stories. It’s where anyone can share insightful perspectives, useful knowledge, and life wisdom with the world. The reason we built this place is because we believe human stories have the power to deepen your understanding of the world.

Topics range from data science to poetry to self-improvement, and everything in between. Each story has a chance to influence others, plant a seed, perhaps even start a movement.

We do our best to help stories find the audience they deserve and help readers find stories that move them, through a system based on human curation and member-driven engagement. As a result, over 100 million people read and connect on Medium every month.

Why Medium matters

Medium is creating a new information ecosystem — one that’s open for everyone to participate in — that rewards quality over quantity. One that values diverse perspectives and doesn’t allow hate, harassment, or intolerance. One that spreads important ideas and sparks intelligent conversations. When you read and write on Medium, you contribute to a global community that values depth, nuance, and substantive storytelling.

This is why Medium exists: to spread human-centric, human-created ideas that deepen our understanding of the world.

How you can get the most out of Medium

Keep up with the most timely and culturally relevant stories on Medium by checking out our Staff Picks. Add stories you want to revisit to your reading lists.

Publications on Medium are independently run communities of like-minded authors and readers who care about the same things you’re most passionate about. Follow publications and submit your stories to them. Browse this list of publications accepting submissions from new writers.

Please interact with this story

Here’s a quick introduction to some of the ways you can interact with stories on Medium. Feel free to try these things out right here.

If you hover over the author’s name on any story, you can learn more about them and even follow them. Do that with my name here: Tony Stubblebine

Look for the clap button to show the author that you appreciate their writing.

Explore stories from over 500 topics that cover every area of life and the world.

Highlight sentences that you want to remember.

Try highlighting this sentence if you dare.

Take Medium with you

Visit Medium on the web when you’re at a computer, and download our iOS or Android apps for when you’re out and about.

Check out our lovely iOS or Android apps.

Leave your first response

Leave a response for me by clicking on the little 💬 talk bubble at the top and bottom of this story. Experience firsthand how every story becomes a lively community when you join the conversation. It’s less scary than it seems. Go ahead, tell me a bit about where you’re writing from. Let me know what brought you to Medium, and what is inspiring you right now.

The 💬 bubble at the top and bottom of every story opens the response drawer.

Start your first story

Medium really comes to life when you decide to write your own story. Our writing interface is simple, beautiful, minimalist, and open to everyone.

Click Write at the top of this page to begin your first draft.

We know you’ve got some great stories waiting for the right time to come out. There’s no better time to start than right now.

Once you realize how easy it is to publish a story and share it with others, you might not be able to stop. If you’re looking for some inspiration, browse recommended stories on your homepage and these publications accepting submissions from new writers.

Become a member

Medium is free for everyone to use, but there are benefits that come with being a paid member, including access to stories that have been paywalled by their authors. We believe that our best stories deserve to be rewarded, and membership is how we help support this kind of writing in the world. If you’re interested in becoming a member, you can learn more here.

Again, welcome to Medium. Thank you for being here. Thank you for reading. I look forward to seeing you around.

The author. After he started regularly writing on Medium.