Evan William’s Medium is growing. I’m a fan, more as a reader than writer because currently prefer to publish at my own domain, but I understand why there’s a large group of people for whom the platform unlocks a lot of creativity. Medium provides an elegant writing experience, a growing readership base and clean consumption experience.
Wanted: Medium for Product Reviews
Whether it’s a startup or Medium adding a product review-style template choice, I’d like to see Medium for Product Reviews. There are a number of items I use (and love) where a way to express my thoughts in a structured, beautiful way would result in creation of content that today goes unwritten.
What would Medium for Product Reviews look like? Well, potentially a lot like Medium today with two additions:
- Product Review Template & Metadata: Need a way for people writing product reviews to format in a consistent manner (product names, pros/cons, ratings, etc).
- Grouping of Reviews for Same Product: Today “Collections” are what Medium calls thematic groupings (such as “This Happened to Me”). This would be easy mechanism to extend to a taxonomy –> eg Cameras:Canon:EOS 70D.
At scale you might have something which fits in-between Wirecutter (editorially authoritative and methodically researched product reviews) and Amazon (voice of the masses). I wouldn’t expect many negative posts to be written as Medium for Product Reviews is more about lovingly putting time into describing why you enjoy using a specific object, whether gadget, bike, beer or whatever. Being in a collection among other enthusiasts adds a layer of community lost on the ecommerce sites or by just writing individual critiques on my own blog. While photos would be an important component of the template, Medium for Product Reviews would be more text-based than Pinterest, Svpply or other sites where you might collect your favorite, or desired, objects.
What do you think? Would you want to publish on a Medium for Product Reviews? What comes closest today?