Videos, GIFs and other forms of visual storytelling are growing on social media, but blogging tool Medium is betting that longer narratives and text are here to stay.
In a presentation filled with grammar humor (yes, Medium CEO and founder Ev Williams is a fan of the em dash), executives of the San Francisco startup on Wednesday night unveiled new features and design changes to the website.
That included a more dimensional logo, fresh typography, more navigation tools on the mobile app, a way to publish on Medium even if a writer is using another publishing tool such as WordPress along with other upgrades.
Medium users can also link to another person s profile in a blog post by typing an @ and the user s name will show up in green.
An @ symbol. A novel idea, quipped Williams, who is also co-founder of Twitter, a microblogging site that uses the same symbol to mention people in 140-character posts.
Even after starting Twitter in 2006, Williams said he still felt like something was missing so he launched Medium in 2012.
Social media wasn t sufficient. It made us more informed in sometimes highly useful and often entertaining ways, but it didn t necessarily make us smarter or actually more connected. There was still a need, we believed, for substantive stories and ideas and the tools to provide those had not evolved that much…, Williams said.
In September, the startup announced it had raised $57 million in funding, bringing its value to $400 million.
Photo Credit: Medium CEO and founder Ev Williams speaks during an event in San Francisco.
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