I have never published anything anywhere on the internet…unless we call a posting on social media (Facebook, Linkedin etc) “publishing”. But, would we? Before I delve too much into the main reason for choosing to write today, I’d like to muse a little on this notion of publishing versus posting.

I notice right away in this curated writing space provided by Medium that my option, upon finishing, will be to publish. Publish, not Post. And it occurs to me how very significant this differentiation is to the experience that has been designed for me here today — and in the grand scheme of things happening in our interconnected (sometimes overly connected) world.

From an etymological standpoint, and expressed as a verb, to “post” was “to affix to a post” and, hence, “make known or bring before the public” and dates back to the early 17th century.

To publish, again expressed as a verb, dates back further still to the mid 14th century and was meant to describe the action of making something public, spreading something abroad, revealing, divulging or announcing.

Both of these origins involve making something known to the public. What really differentiates them appears to be the…[ahem]…medium by which said something becomes known. Who knew? A post is a post because the post was affixed to a post!

Merriam-Webster offers current definitions for these terms that are not too departed from their etymological origins.

“Publish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary/Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, Accessed 15 Dec. 2024

“Post.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary/Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, Accessed 15 Dec. 2024

Here again we see a common thread of making something known to the public but with distinct differences, again, about the way in which said something is made known. Curious, too, that our friends at Merriam Webster include “to publish” in their definition of “Post”, but not vice versa, and only include “post” in reference to synonyms for “publish” used in the context of “to announce”.

Why, you ask, am I dissecting these words as though this were my life’s work as a seasoned lexicographer? Good question.

As I mentioned above, Medium has chosen the word “Publish” as the call to action (or CTA, to my UX friends out there) in this lovely space for writers. As I type these words and the page slowly scrolls up, “Publish” is there to remind me of what’s to come. Not “Post” even though, for all intents and purposes, by “publishing” on Medium my story will be displayed on my public profile page and available for anyone to read. Not so different, in theory, from what happens when I create a post on Facebook and “Post” it, in terms of what happens to the thing that I wrote.

Why is it important that Medium chose the term “Publish”? Because from a usability standpoint, they could have also gone with “Post” and it would not have been entirely foolish or unusable. Google has 3 principles when it comes to designing buttons; they should be…

identifiable: indicate that they can trigger an action

findable: be easy to find among other elements, including other buttons.

clear: its action and state should be clear

“Post” would be all of these things and ultimately, would have been good enough. Would it make them a little bit like everyone else? Sure, but it wouldn’t have sparked mass confusion by its writers or caused a deluge of feedback from disgruntled users. It’s possible that not a single writer would have even mentioned it in their feedback.

“Publish”, however, meets all of these Google button-design principles AND checks another box. “Publish” differentiates Medium by helping writers feel like writers. And in doing so they exemplify their belief, as an organization, in the power of words. The rewards for great writing begin the moment you start writing in the form of helping someone like me, someone who has never published an article online, feel like part of this community of writers. All with the magic of one little word. Publish. And why does “publish” do this for me and “post” does not? Another great question that I draw only from my assumptions and entirely subjective experience in offering this: anyone can post. We see people posting all day long, all over the place. Posting this, posting that. Reposting this. Reposting that.

Posting feels lazier than publishing. It just does. It’s weird, but it does.

Everyone posts.

Not everyone publishes.

Writers on Medium publish.

And as for why I chose NOW to write. Well, I am interviewing this week for a position with Medium as a Staff User Researcher, the first one they have ever hired. I am nervous, hopeful, excited and terrified all mashed up in a lovely ball of chaotic UX fun. In full transparency, of course I hope that what I have written — and the simple fact that I have written - helps to amplify my candidacy. Of course I do. But I also see this as my sneaky little way of refining my skillset as a researcher, telling an experience design story, exploring the writer’s user experience by becoming one myself, and creating something unique for my job-search portfolio.

So, Medium, if the universe does not converge our paths any longer than the 45 minutes I’ve been granted this week to prove to you that I am the best thing in research since Paul Felix Lazarsfeld, so be it. I will still have come away with more from our time together than I came in with.

In conclusion (because what is a good story without one?), I’d like to offer this compelling insight about the current user experience, especially since you don’t have a UX researcher on staff yet. Based on my entirely biased, self-directed in-depth interview (sample size of 1), the findings are clear. “Publish” was a solid choice and makes me feel like there is a writer in me where there once was not.

To Publish or to Post. That is the question.

Alana Hartley