5 emerging social networks PR pros must know

We’re not talking Instagram or Tumblr; you know about those sites. We’re also not suggesting Facebook is going to evaporate. It’s not going anywhere for now.

But, for one reason or another, the following five sites are, at the very least, worth knowing.

Medium.

Quite simply, Medium is a blogging site, though its founders describe it as an extension of Twitter. “A place where you can find and share knowledge, ideas, and stories—specifically, ones that need more than 140 characters and are not just for your friends,” the site promises.

The About Us page of Medium is packed with lofty language stressing that the site favors quality over quantity—a noble pursuit in the Internet age.

Here’s how it works: You write a blog, which appears in one of the site’s many “collections”—such as “Advice to New Graduates” or “Airport Stories”—or on the site’s homepage. Users vote (or “recommend”) posts. How prominently a post is displayed on the site depends on how many votes it receives.

The design of Medium is clean and sharp, a real pleasure to the eye.