Medium.com in a nutshell

Medium is a clean, ad-free place to read and write thoughtful stories—made for humans first. Members get unlimited reading, audio narrations, and offline access; writers get a simple editor, publications to collaborate in, and a way to earn from member engagement. The platform covers hundreds of topics and actively curates what you see so discovery feels useful, not noisy. (help.medium.com)

What makes Medium feel different

• No ads, just reading. The experience is distraction‑free and supported by memberships, not banner ads. (help.medium.com)

• Hundreds of expert-led topics. Medium organizes content across a large, curated topic directory, so teams find relevant ideas fast. (blog.medium.com)

• Simple, beautiful writing tools. The editor is minimal yet powerful, with collaboration via publications and draft review. (help.medium.com)

• Listen and read anywhere. Members can use built‑in audio narration and download lists for offline reading in the iOS/Android apps. (help.medium.com)

• Community that rewards quality. Engagement (reads, claps, highlights, replies) and curation (“Boosts”) help surface useful, human writing. (medium.com)

Plans (reader benefits that also strengthen your knowledge stack)

• Medium Member — $5/month or $50/year. Unlimited, ad‑free reading; audio; offline lists; ability to create publications; custom domains; access to Medium’s Mastodon community (me.dm). (help.medium.com)

• Friend of Medium — $15/month or $150/year. Everything in Member, plus your reading gives 4x more earnings to the writers you read most and lets you share member‑only stories more broadly. (help.medium.com)

How writers earn (and why the content stays high quality)

• Partner Program. Eligible writers can put stories behind the paywall and earn based on member read and listen time plus engagement signals (claps, highlights, replies, follows). Membership is required to join; high‑quality, repeat‑reader stories and Boosts can increase payouts. Program terms were updated effective August 1, 2024. (medium.com)

Collaboration features teams actually use

• Publications (shared, branded hubs). Run your company blog or a team zine with multiple editors and writers, a customizable home page, newsletters, and stats. Great for coordinated thought leadership and internal editorial workflows. (help.medium.com)

• Draft review and notes. Share draft links for quick peer feedback via private notes before publishing. (help.medium.com)

• Unlisted publishing. Share a story privately via a direct link (not discoverable on your profile or across Medium) when you want limited access without managing accounts. (help.medium.com)

Medium for Teams and bulk access

• Curated knowledge for organizations. Medium for Teams highlights a library of expert insights across leadership, product, design, data, and more—useful for ongoing team development. (medium.com)

• Group access made simple. If you’re outfitting a team, Medium now offers Group Gifting (bulk annual memberships, minimum 11) so you can get everyone reading with one purchase flow. (help.medium.com)

Why this matters to a strong Back Office

• Continuous learning, minus the noise. Your ops, finance, HR, legal, and IT teammates can follow curated topics and publications to stay current on best practices and trends—without sifting through ads or low‑value content. (blog.medium.com)

• Lightweight knowledge enablement. Use publications to run an internal editorial calendar, share playbooks, and publish explainers or retrospectives; route drafts for review before anything goes public. (help.medium.com)

• Onboarding that scales. Build reading lists by topic (e.g., procurement basics, SOC 2 primers, stakeholder management) that new hires can download for offline reading. (blog.medium.com)

• Culture and alignment. Regular exposure to diverse, expert viewpoints grows judgment and cross‑functional empathy—key for back‑office excellence. Curated directories help you target exactly what a role needs next. (blog.medium.com)

• Support the ecosystem you rely on. Membership fees directly support the writers your team reads, strengthening the quality of the content pipeline you count on. (help.medium.com)

Where Medium fits in your stack (and where it doesn’t)

• Best for: open learning, external thought leadership, public‑facing playbooks, and curated reading programs that upskill your team.

• Not a replacement for: a private knowledge base or policy repository. Use Medium alongside your internal system (e.g., your wiki/KB) and reserve Medium for non‑sensitive content or unlisted shareouts where appropriate.

Quick start for a Back Office lead

• Create a publication for your organization to centralize official posts and team articles; assign editors and writers. (help.medium.com)

• Set learning tracks by topic (finance ops, vendor risk, data governance) and circulate monthly reading lists; encourage offline downloads for travel days. (blog.medium.com)

• Pilot a writing cadence: rotate contributors to publish case studies, post‑mortems, and SOP explainers; use draft links for review. (help.medium.com)

• Offer memberships via Group Gifting so the whole team has uninterrupted access. (help.medium.com)

• Measure what matters: watch publication stats and engagement to see which topics actually move the needle, then double down. (help.medium.com)

Bottom line

Medium gives you a focused, human reading and writing environment that’s perfect for building a learning‑first Back Office. With ad‑free reading, audio, offline access, collaborative publications, and a quality‑driven earning model, it’s a low‑lift way to keep teams informed, aligned, and continuously improving. (help.medium.com)