While Medium has been around for a few years I get the sense that it has recently begun to pick up speed. Perhaps you recall January’s viral hit “A teenager’s view on social media (written by an actual teen)”? Or maybe you’ve been following the CODE | WORDS publication with contributors from the museum technology community like Rob Stein, Michael Edson, and Merete Sanderhoff?

Today on DigitalGov you’ll find a blog post written by me that explores why organizations might choose to use Medium for publishing their content and facilitating discussion. The post was prompted by a newly-negotiated federal-friendly terms of service (critical to those of us working in social media for government agencies).

A few museum accounts I’ve come across include The Tech Museum of Innovation, Museum London, and the Hammer Museum‘s Exchange: A Public Engagement Forum. Despite some really interesting features for sparking community discussion (see: notes) and accountable debate (see: responses), I haven’t seen many museums going full throttle with Medium yet and I’m curious to know why?

Medium’s “Notes” feature enables commenting and discussion on specific parts of a story.

The ever-smart and super-social-savvy Erin Blasco thinks Medium could be a really important tool for museums to spark “real conversation.” In the DigitalGov post, I talk more about how organizations can harness the community features of Medium to encourage dialogue.

If your museum is using (or considering using) Medium for digital publishing and engagement, I’d like to hear from you! Who do you hope to reach? How do you measure success on this platform? And what have you learned so far?