I have never gone to medium.com directly, I have only ever wound up there through an article being crossposted on this site, Twitter, FB, or the rare case that one of my email newsletters links to something on there.
2- Write post.
3- Post to multiple aggregators (HN, reddit, etc)
It can even be made (semi)automatic.
HN, on the other hand, feels like a more matured community. Any other such matured communities where one can feel comfortable about posting their blog posts?
G+, for its many, many, many flaws, could keep a discussion going on those rare instances where it started in the first place. In ways few other sites do.
The fact that all members of a conversation (up to a point) are informed of new posts, helps. That's a two-edged sword: low-value comments, if left standing, merely annoy others, and tend to cause them to mute out of the discussion.
But it's a dynamic few other sites match.
I've also been using Reddit as a blogging platform (not simply syndicating content) for several years. I'd already been in the process of moving that elsewhere when the G+ shutdown announcement hit -- I've been somewhat engaged in that over the past month or so. I do plan to continue syndication, though I moderate strongly for quality.