How Medium Can Monetize: A Pay-as-you-go Quasi-Subscription Model

Much has been discussed about how influential content aggregator Medium plans to monetize its platform. While a subscription model is often considered, a pay-as-you-go quasi-subscription model could offer a unique and effective solution, leveraging its position as a trustful source for high-quality written content.

The Challenges of Monetization on Clickbait Platforms

The success of Medium as a platform for high-quality content is fundamentally challenged by the dominance of clickbait and other low-quality content on social media platforms, particularly Facebook. These platforms prioritize content that drives high click-through rates, neglecting the value in nuance, depth, and long-form articles. As Sean Blanda explained, the core flaw in the ad-driven model fosters a culture where the click is prioritized over the content's quality and truth.

Insight into Medium's Monetization Potential

Much like Project Fi, a pay-as-you-go service that allows users to pay for the data they use, Medium could also offer a similar model but tailored for content consumption. This would involve introducing a system where users can purchase units of reading, or “storypoints”.

Implementing a Pay-as-you-go Model

The concept would involve: Automatic Refunds and Adjustments: Users who pay for a certain number of storypoints but do not use them all within a month would either receive a refund for unused credits or have their subscription automatically adjusted. Subscription Flexibility: Premium content providers would be paid based on the actual consumption of their content, rather than the placement of advertisements around their articles. Free Access and Premium Content: Not all content would need to be gated behind storypoints. Many articles and sources could remain free, while quality journalism would be priced. Social Media Integration: Users could be granted a set amount of storypoints each month, possibly through social media logins to reduce the hassle of managing multiple subscriptions.

The Benefits of This Model

This model offers several advantages: Reduced Subscription Costs: Users would only need to pay for the amount of content they actually consume, potentially allowing them to support more quality content providers without oversubscribing. Increased Trust: By directly supporting the content they value, users may have a stronger connection to the platforms and writers they support, potentially increasing trust. Streamlined Payments: Users would not need to manage multiple payment systems, making it easier and less time-consuming.

Challenges and Considerations

While this model holds promise, there are certainly challenges to consider. Implementing a storypoint system would require a robust backend and API to track user consumption and credits accurately. Additionally, user education and buy-in would be critical to ensure the system is widely adopted.

Conclusion

Medium's future success as a premium content platform lies in its ability to offer a solution that meets the needs of both content providers and consumers. A pay-as-you-go quasi-subscription model could be the key to unlocking this potential, allowing users to support the content they value without the hassle of multiple subscriptions.

The platform has shown great potential in the world of content aggregation, and with the right model, it can become a leading force in funding high-quality journalism and other forms of written content.