Just now I opened a medium site and before I could even start reading I was hit with a popup to download the mobile app, some other popup that I ignored (cookies I guess), and within a second or two, a full screen modal asking me to subscribe. Often I also get a pay wall. All within seconds of opening the site. If that’s not hostile, I don’t know what is.

Needless to say, I closed the tab. No content is worth dealing with that over.

Sure plenty of other sites do it too but “other people do it” doesn’t mean it’s not hostile nor does it excuse the behavior. Medium is and has always been one of my most hated sites because a lot of tech people post there, a lot of medium links are submitted to HN, yet it’s a horrible place for the reader.