Medium and Twitter founder: ‘We put junk food in front of them and they eat it’ | Media | The Guardian

Check the full article for a Medium profile that's more thoughtful than the article title suggests

"“It’s understandable why media on the web is like it is today,” Williams tells the Guardian. “That’s not to say there’s not a lot of great stuff out there, but a lot of people are dissatisfied with it. A lot of journalists who want to do great stuff are dissatisfied. Advertisers and brands are dissatisfied. We’re still stuck in some very naive thinking, with the idea that people consuming media means that’s what they want – it’s like, well, we put junk food in front of them and they ate that, so that must be what they want.”

That view may strike many as slightly ironic, given Williams was a co-founder and former chief executive of Twitter, which has just celebrated its 10th birthday. But while he is now dedicated to his own project, Medium, which has become a magnet for pretty much anyone looking to put their writing on the web, he says both services are at their root about democratising and simplifying publishing and access to information."

Medium and Twitter founder: ‘We put junk food in front of them and they eat it’ | Media | The Guardian