Writing and Publishing On Social Media Platforms
There aren’t many Social Media platforms that encourage confidence in writers these days. Look at what has happened to Twitter, and to Facebook. That’s why I was delighted to find the American blogging platform, Medium. There’s nothing like it elsewhere on the internet. It’s free to use if you just want a basic reading/writing experience, or you can have the lot for $5 American per month. That is, you can see all readings and apply to earn a little on the site, once you have a requisite following.
Ask any researcher of family dynamics and you will come across this dichotomy: relationships steeped in both love and hate. It’s not always a negative thing, either. Families are complex entities. So, too, are countries and cultures. In fact, differences, like those in multicultural societies, for example, are a good thing.
My knowledge of love/hate relationships is, first and foremost, from personal experience. I was aware, certainly by adolescence, that I both loved and hated my parents. I needed to get away from home as early as possible for my very survival. Their fighting was killing me, and their relationship was based on irreconcilable differences.
Once I had escaped, however, it was not long before I had to return to the cauldron, that is, to my place of birth, in Australia, so that I could heal from the past.
After the election of a short-lived progressive government in our country back in the seventies, blame-free divorces were easier to procure. However, my parents were stuck in their ways, and, perhaps, even “meant” to stay together: to wrestle with their problems forever and ever. Who knows?
Not able to hate them forever, I had to discard my default position of love-and-hate for a better ideal. The only available one for me was LOVE. Once my healing had taken place, it was easier for me to maintain this position, if only from a distance, and forever and anon, after they had died.
Writing for me on Medium has been a lot like this. It has been a steep learning curve, technically speaking. And I have found the readings on the site both wonderful and, at times, shudderingly awful.
This has raised some questions for me. What’s the point of having carefully chosen and easily accessed photos and pictures, if the writing that accompanies them, is lacking in depth and esthetic value? I know, I know, the site was set up as a social media platform, and it’s all about connection, which is surely a good thing? A bit like Twitter but with lengthy posts, someone has said.
But I think it’s a shame not to encourage good writing. Some authors on this platform, such as David Price, an artist and philosopher, go to great lengths to access and share amazing photos, accompanied by brilliant wisdom-quotes and creative writing with depth and spirituality. I’m sure many readers feel the same way as I do about this.
What I am trying to say is that I’d like to see a much greater focus on writing that encapsulates creativity and a certain esthetic quality on this platform. Earning money is important, too, and I’m pleased that I have started to earn a few dollars on Medium. I know that this will probably increase in the future, if my following continues to grow.
However, the main reason that I love reading and writing on Medium is for its broad content and for its helpful editors, like Kristina God and Linda Ng, and others who explain formatting, technical and global issues to me, which is my Achilles’ Heel. Thank you to all those who have been helping me in this regard.
There’s nothing like this in my country of Australia. I really do appreciate and enjoy writing and reading on the publishing family that is Medium, in spite and, perhaps, because of, all the differences.