Member-only story
What if All of Medium’s Publications Suddenly Disappeared Without Warning?
Could tags provide the same function but without all the frustration?
Do we really need publications?
When we submit a story to a publication, we are trying to reach a particular audience. People are following that publication because the topic or style interests them.
They are a great way to reach new people. They also give us the inspiration to try writing something different.
But they do have downsides:
- Waiting for an editor to publish your story.
- An editor making changes to your story.
- Your story getting rejected.
But tags could serve the same function as publications, for both writers and readers. The algorithm could treat them the same way.
Readers follow tags that interest them. Writers add appropriate tags to their stories. The algorithm then knows who to recommend the stories to.
The big advantage here would be that writers would never have to deal with editors.
But what about all the bad writing that would get published without an editor checking them? Well, we all have access to the mute option.
