In many of these matters, we seem to see eye-to-eye. However, the problem with social media as a whole is the propensity of its consumers to seek echo chambers. The old saying about birds of a feather is apposite here. In the search for validation of their views, many people will only seek out contributors who share and reinforce their views. They are seeking affirmation rather than challenge. The result being that, instead of a global exchange of information and ideas, social media is becoming a collection of silos, each silo an echo chamber of its' inhabitants' views. This in turn leads management to subtly encourage this kind of behaviour in the name of profits and targeted advertising. Each silo is prone to be dominated by a particular demographic, allowing the directing of advertising designed to appeal to said demographic.
That said, there is a core of writers (and thus readers) here on Medium who do seek, or present, challenge. It is, if one allows it to be, a place where a grizzled old Socialist like me and a businessman like yourself can share and exchange views courteously and even passionately without fear of the tedious attack ad hominem and other trollish behaviour. Not all of us, after all, seek or require validation, affirmation and the comfort of isolation from challenge.
The question is, what can or should the managers of this forum do to encourage this kind of behaviour? Certainly a firm mission statement is needed. Something on the lines of: "To create a space where a diversity of thought, information and ideas may be exchanged freely, civilly and safely." Paying more attention to the content of posts and comments, as opposed simply to numbers, would be helpful. This could be used to adjust the content of individuals' feeds so as to expose them to differing, rather than similar, views. It's nice to know that folk agree with you, but more important and valuable to find out why others don't! To that end, a more balanced curation, one that does not automatically favour the left-wing or 'progressive' author, the "established elsewhere' writer or the 'how to make a million in three articles' huckster. Not that I am in favour of circulating overtly racist writers or other forms of hate speech. All rational viewpoints, however, should get their fair share of recommendations and distribution.
In the matter of business models, you know better than I what should serve. I have only worked in the private sector for a few years, most of my working life has been spent in Education or the Civil Service. My experience as a Union rep has been on the other end, protecting working people from the consequences of management ineptitude and/or toxicity. To me, a good manager is one who does what I tell them :)! However, it is clear that, whatever might be happening at the top here, leadership is lacking, and with leadership, direction. Without direction all that is left is ever-decreasing circles.
