I think I agree with parts of this but not with it entirely. Medium is an engagement oriented platform and it seems to me that selectively engaging with critics is important, especially if you write about politics and social issues. True writers/journalists don't debate in the comments section of their pieces, but most of them do debate in other arenas where their readers can read/watch/listen. For me personally, some debates I get into with readers are stimulating enough that they end up being big chunks of material for future articles. But I also think that engaging with detractors is a good way to show that your ideas stand up to scrutiny and it's a great opportunity to expound on some things that 5-6 min. articles make hard to go into detail on.

But then again, I just love a good debate! As you can probably tell. Great article. Thanks for sharing.