Alexander, what is this "relational" business? If it means a comfortable, agreeable, and gated community, that's not so great. But, reaching, connecting, and embracing ideas and perspectives is healthy.

I see writing as the beginning of the conversation and what it generates is multiple times the original. I'm astounded by the thousands of daily comments to NYT articles where most are thoughtful and well written. This expansion of our writing is surely what we want to achieve.

Medium management could direct writers to solve problems -- big unsolvable ones like immigration. So says Henryk A. Kowalczyk in "Can Medium be the next big thing in media?" It could bring vitality, if not virality.

Best to you.