On: Open for everyone

[650REDHAIR]

Wouldn't most modern writers have a Twitter account anyway? If you're publishing your piece online wouldn't you want everyone to see it?

[cliveowen → 650REDHAIR]

If you already have an audience, maybe, but if you don't, then it's just an avoidable restriction.

[pbhjpbhj → cliveowen]

>an avoidable restriction //

How does having an account restrict you, in the context of being a writer wishing to publicise your work?

[lucian1900 → pbhjpbhj]

It restricts Medium to people with Twitter accounts. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone has one.

[Touche → lucian1900]

You can get them for free, using a throwaway email and fake identity if wanted. Why is it preferable to get a Medium account?

[lucian1900 → Touche]

Because you'd have to deal with one less party (trust, security, reliability, support).

If you aren't already a Twitter user, it's simpler to have the option of making a Medium account.

[BlackDeath3 → lucian1900]

If given the choice between two options, ceteris paribus, I'd choose the one without the Twitter account restriction as well.

[kibibu → Touche]

What happens when Twitter crashes and burns, and now you can't access your blog?

[tshaddox → kibibu]

I would bet a small amount of money that Twitter outlasts Medium. And if Medium outlasts Twitter, do you think Medium will just sit by and say "well that sucks that none of our users can access their blogs"?

[kibibu → tshaddox]

In that case, think of a 24 hour datacenter outage then.

Unless Twitter gives Medium more information about usera on authentication than I think they do, I don't know how Medium could possible verify the owners of each blog.

[seanmcdirmid → 650REDHAIR]

If you are stuck behind the great firewall of china, no actually.