The Top Ten Most Mystifying Things About Writing on Medium
Are you as much in the dark as I am?
You’d think after writing for over three years on this platform, I’d have a good idea of how things work. After all, I’ve read at least a few hundred articles by “top writers” on how to do well here.
Some of their advice actually helped, for a while. But now, like many others, I find that nothing does.
Why? Maybe because what works keeps changing or because Medium’s business model isn’t designed with the writer in mind. Or, just maybe, somebody up there hates me but still wants my subscription fees.
Whatever it is, I’ve noticed a few things I find truly mystifying. Maybe you’ve noticed others. If so, share them in the comments below.
1. Why do I keep acquiring followers when nobody’s reading my stuff?
Lately, $10 in earnings constitutes a good month for me on this platform. My acquisition of followers is about at the same rate as it was when I was pulling in $100+.
Surely everyone who reads one of my stories doesn’t follow me. Are these real people, bots, or just Medium’s way of consoling me so I won’t cancel my subscription? Inquiring minds want to know.
2. Why does Medium still have a button for claps?
It’s been years since Medium tied claps to writer earnings. Some folks clap once, some 50, others use some complicated formula known only to them. It muddies the waters.
Substack uses hearts. You like a story, you click the heart. That way, the writer knows exactly how many people read their story and liked it. But Medium prefers to kid writers into thinking more people are reading and liking than actually are. Can you say, “misdirection”?
3. Why does Medium email me about how many views I’ve received?
In case you haven’t realized it yet, views on Medium don’t mean shit. Writers are only paid for reads that come from people who subscribe to Medium and scroll to the bottom of the story. On NewsBreak, a view, no matter how brief, pays.
What’s that? I should appreciate knowing legions of people read my story even though I only earned 37 cents for two hours of writing? Screw that. I have no way of knowing if they read it anyway. Show me the money, honey, not the pie in the sky.
4. Why do people with many fewer followers than I have get more engagement than I do?
It never fails. Every morning I get fed stories by new writers with a handful of followers who’ve amassed over a thousand claps and dozens of comments. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen organically, but the fact that this phenomenon crops up with depressing frequency is somewhat suspicious, no?
5. How is it possible that a story with no reads gets multiple claps?
Okay, I’ll admit it. This one’s not much of a mystery. It goes back to the fact that, on Medium, if the reader doesn’t scroll to the bottom, it’s not counted as a read, even if they liked it enough to clap. Whoever came up with this system is a sadist.
6. Why am I still listed as a writer on publications that folded years ago?
Should a writer have to make sure a publication they’ve written for in the past is still accepting submissions? Why isn’t there a system where publications that fold automatically drop approved writers?
Is there any benefit to Medium to fool people into thinking these dead publications are open for submissions? Probably not. There’s just no benefit to the powers that be to fix it.
7. Why are top writers who Medium pays six-figure consulting fees still allowed to compete with the rest of us for reads?
I begrudge no one their success. If a top writer does well enough to get offered a guaranteed steady income as a consultant from Medium, good for them.
What I do object to is their continuing to dip earnings out of the well the rest of us are splitting by the drop making nowhere close to a living. To add insult to injury, most of them do this by telling us how to “make it” on Medium.
8. Who do you have to blow to get boosted around here?
Not that I’m offering. I just wondered.
Unfortunately, transparency isn’t Medium’s strong suit. Peek-a-boo!
9. How is Medium still in business?
This is a good question. For a while, subscription fees allowed Medium to be somewhat free with the cash, but as the number of writers wanting to be paid increased, the money to pay them diminished. Medium even slashed it’s payroll of well-compensated, full-time editors and it still wasn’t enough.
When a platform encourages writers to beg for tips and hawk subscriptions, it’s pretty clear they can no longer afford to be classy.
10. Why are otherwise intelligent people allowing themselves to be so shamelessly exploited?
In the grand tradition of many American businesses, Medium has shifted what used to be their responsibilities onto their consumers and workers. Sales and marketing are expensive. Let’s have the writers do that. Subscriptions don’t bring in enough cash. Have the writers guilt the subscribers, many (if not most) of whom are also writers, into coughing up tips. That should keep them on the hook a while longer.
They’ve figured out that writers, like actors, musicians, artists, and a whole host of other creative people are so desperate for exposure and to do what they love that they’ll do it for nothing. That’s where they’ve got us. Where would they find victims if we weren’t so terribly willing?
