Medium has taken its first steps towards a subscription model.

It’s time to establish a real solution to the distorted feedback loops that cause misinformation, noisy feeds, and a general lack of understanding. All of this is pushing our society to become more insular, close-minded, and unscientific, despite living in the most powerful information revolution of all time.
Ev Williams, CEO & Founder, Medium

Ev Williams recently invited readers to become Medium members.

Hi Nigel,

We’re beginning a limited release of our new membership program. As a loyal reader of Medium,
I want to invite you to become a member before we open it up to the rest of the world.

To give you a sneak peek of where we’re heading, I’ve written up thoughts on our vision for membership.

Read my post

This membership program is the next step in our effort to change the way content is created, shared, and rewarded on the internet. It’s time to rethink the media ecosystem. And to develop a meaningful alternative to the status quo of half truths and hot takes, we need your help.

To become a founding member, you can learn more and upgrade here. We’re only inviting a small set of readers right now, and we’ll start adding exclusive content and features for members on a weekly basis—so this is just the beginning.

Thank you for being a part of the Medium community. With every story you read, recommend, and highlight, you’re helping us build a better place on the internet.

Ev

On rewards for ad driven publishers

No matter how skilled or well-intentioned, ad-driven publishers are rewarded on their ability to capture attention and even, at times, to weave a particular corporate-driven narrative. Not to provide informed perspectives, be thorough, or even be factually correct. But to capture attention. As cheaply as possible. For a few fleeting seconds. Click, click, scroll…
Ev Williams