7 Reasons Why I Love Medium

A personal comparison of Medium versus Vocal Media

Like many writers here, I started out on Vocal Media. I was roped in with one of their challenges that I spied on Facebook. I’d never had anything published before because I’d never written anything. My writing efforts consisted of penning letters or assignments for university.

After a couple of months, and mediocre success, I decided to see what else was out there in the writing world. I had heard about Medium but it sounded scary and a bit more highfaluting than what I thought I was capable of.

After a squizz around, I sent my first piece for publication on April 6 this year. I have published over 90 stories since.

I keep jumping on the Vocal wagon every now and then. The more I do, the less I like it. Why?

Here are 7 reasons why Medium is my preferred writing platform.

1. You can comment on other writers work

Now that I have got used to interacting with readers and writers via claps and comments on Medium, I am finding it frustrating not to be able to congratulate a great Vocal story other than giving it a heart. I can’t give 50 hearts if I thought it was brilliant; just one. Of course, I could give a tip that would likely have the author gratuitously checking out my work in reciprocation, but I am not going to do that, sorry — but thanks to the 3 peeps that did tip me!

There isn’t an easy way of following someone either. Once you find a story you like you can click on the author’s profile and be led to others, but it is not possible to receive instant feeds or notifications on any new work they publish.

I love the sense of community here at Medium because of the following, commenting and clapping options. As well, you can sign up for email notification if a new story has been published by a favourite author; otherwise, the black circle indicates there are new stories to be read on your main Medium page.

2. There are a vast array of publications to choose from

To date, I have been published in 22 different publications. Nope — I haven’t found my niche yet! But I love the diversity, especially if some of the more high profile ones take their sweet time to reply to you, fail to at all — or reject your work. Someone will pick it up — or you can self-publish.

Admittedly most of my self-published ones have only a few reads, but all were transplants from Vocal, and one gained Top Story notoriety over there so it is what it is.

I do have my favourite publications that I tend to submit to more than others: The Daily Cuppa, Snapshots and Feedium are my three favourites.

3. Your work doesn’t get lost

The wonderful thing about Medium and having a following is that readers often take the time to explore other work you have submitted once they like a story. This is mainly due to having your own profile page that you can manage and design as you see fit.

I strongly recommend completing a wee blurb about yourself in the About Me Publication. I love reading about the writers I follow, especially when I see so many hail from down-under. Once you have done your About Me story, pin it to your profile page. I stupidly removed mine and replaced it with my index, but put it back to the top last week and gained several views as a result.

Since I created the photo index of my stories, my following has doubled. Now, whether it is related to that, I have no idea — but since my stories are filed to be more easily accessible it is easier to find older ones instead of having to scroll, reload and scroll some more.

I did a wee test with Vocal Media the past month. I transplanted 4 stories from Medium over onto their platform. The result: 2 reads on all of them — in a month! One of them I thought may make the top story slot as a similar one did when I first started, but no; it is lost in the cavernous mound of stories over there.

I’m guessing they won’t promote previously published stories although my slight at them about their formatting of a poem was published here first and they gave me a $5 bonus for it ‘being awesome’! I must admit to laughing very loudly the day I got that email!

4. Your writing is automatically saved when in draft mode

There is nothing worse than tapping the keys like a maniac, heading off to check the thesaurus on the same page and coming back to see nothing there.

You do not have any draft stories

BUT I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF WRITING ONE!

Yup, if you don’t constantly save your work over on Vocal, it’s gone if you move off the draft page. Forever.

It’s difficult to swap from platform to platform, especially when this happens. When I first started writing, I would do so on Microsoft Word first, then copy/paste it. Now that I am writing at least one story a day and the Medium platform is user-friendly, I gave that up long ago. Because I am so used to it, I now forget that I have to save my drafts over at Vocal.

Ho-hum!

Thank you Medium for constantly automatically saving my drafts.

5. You can see your statistics instantly

When I first started writing on Vocal, I would patiently wait for 2130 to roll around (9:30 pm for those of you not familiar with military time) to see how many reads I had on a story. Often there were glitches and zero was recorded for days, only then to make a small jump once the bug was fixed. I knew this because of all the bitching on a Vocal Facebook group chat.

You cannot tell how successful a story is on Vocal. There is no indication of how many hearts it has received.

Although sometimes Medium does alter your personal stats, pretty much what you see is what you get. If I was obsessive I could check them out every time I open my laptop, including earnings in the partner program. I try not to.

As well, your story records how many claps and comments, as they happen — and the notification bell advises you when there are new highlights, comments or followers.

I love being able to clap on a Medium story and send it past the 1 or 2K mark. It helps me see what interests readers, based on the number of claps a story has received. Sometimes, it fuels an idea for my take on the subject.

6. It’s not a competition

As much as I have participated in a lot of the Vocal challenges, primarily to be in to win their substantial financial prizes — I can always do with an unexpected windfall — writing shouldn’t be a contest. We all have our own unique styles, opinions and abilities.

I have entered half a dozen challenges with no success. Sometimes, I wonder what the heck they are after — do I need to suck up to the judges, defy the rules, forget about grammar and formatting? There are so many entries, it is hard to make a formal opinion on the winners because I don’t have the time or inclination to read 400+ stories to see if I ever even had a chance.

But sometimes I read the winning entries and I wonder why they snagged one of those attractive prizes. It makes me feel worthless and deflated — and I don’t like that feeling.

As much as I enjoy a good challenge, it’s not why I write. The fact that the Kings and Queens of Medium bother to interact with the likes of li’l old me is honourable and inspiring. I learn from them rather than thinking I’m not good enough.

There is no competition on Medium. There are no losers. We are all aspiring to write good content to feed hungry readers and fellow writers.

It’s a win-win on Medium. If you work hard and write relevant, interesting content, your following will flourish; your stats will improve, and — more importantly — you will become a better writer.

7. It’s value for money

By the time that almighty US dollar does the conversion, I am paying over $12/month to be a Vocal+ member; just to be able to be in to win.

Here at Medium, it is half the prize with quadruple the value. I get so much more out of this platform, primarily because of engagement.

Yes, I could win a thousand dollar plus prize over at Vocal, but the more they advertise on social media, the less likely that is. I’m inspired by Medium’s latest bonuses, even if after their recent email I know it isn’t likely to happen for me. I firmly believe in rewarding writers who continually offer top-notch reading and attract followers to the platform. Well done you guys and gals!

The flip-side of this is that my earnings on Medium are also paid out in US dollars so by the time it reaches my Canadian bank account it is significantly more. I like that!

Conclusion

While Vocal may be for some — their challenges are certainly motivating — I am a Medium convert. I love all you wonderful readers and writers; I have connected on a personal level with many of you and it is heart-warming.

I’ll likely continue to participate in Vocal challenges that interest me with a mindset of ‘if you are not in you definitely won’t win’!

Otherwise, Medium fulfils my newbie needs and gives me a sense of accomplishment and pride.

Thanks, Medium!