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Twitter founders start new 'Medium' social publishing site

Evan Williams and Biz Stone
Evan Williams and Biz StoneAP file
Medium
Medium

The founders of Twitter, Biz Stone and Evan Williams, have announced a new venture: a Web publishing platform that takes a little bit from several existing services but hopes to build something new. It's called Medium, and while you can't really use it just yet, you can get a feel for the service and see whether it's for you.

Evan Williams and Biz Stone
Evan Williams and Biz StoneAP file

Medium is seemingly put together with parts from other sites: posting is simple and template-based, like Tumblr. Posts are organized into collections, like Pinterest. And within those collections, the posts are promoted by readers, like Reddit.

So you could have, for instance, a collection of pictures of old cars that enthusiasts would browse, upvoting the ones they like the most. Those popular images would appear at the top of the collection, or alternatively readers can browse by chronological order.

If old cars aren't your thing, you can start a collection of stories, or quotes, or anything you like. They can be private or open to submissions. There are a few templates for layouts and posts, but for now everything is still a bit stark.

You can test it out in a limited way (just browsing and voting) by logging in with a Twitter account; organizers plan on adding posting privileges soon. There's more information on the site and the founders' inspiration at their inaugural "Welcome to Medium" post.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.