[Someone]

"Hosting your own WordPress site? It's simple and easy."

I would think that, for at least 90% of those publishing on Medium, that's neither simple nor easy.

Even ignoring that, hosting your own Wordpress site means taking responsibility for keeping it up to date, security-wise. That hurdle alone probably makes most bloggers use some third-party blogging provider.

[gboudrias]

It's just an example, there are many choices, some of which are presumably even simpler.

But yes there will be some responsibility involved, I think that falls into healthy technical culture as well. It's the difference between taking care of something and getting someone else to take care of it. At the end of the day, someone has to do it, and we shouldn't always simply trust others with it just because it's easier.

[fredsted]

WP can update itself though.