Bill Simmons’ partnership with Medium highlights its focus on becoming a platform for publishers

Medium CEO Ev Williams has said that he envisions Medium becoming more of a social network than a publishing tool for an “impassioned, engaged, and influential audience.” But as it has brought on publications such as Bill Simmons’ latest venture The Ringer and The Awl’s Billfold, Digiday’s Lucia Moses writes that some staff say the transition has been a confusing one: “They’ll say, ‘Do groundbreaking work,’ but it’s really about getting people on Medium. They don’t really know what they want to do with paid content and publications.”