A Writer’s Musings: It Bombed Like a Baby’s Diaper

Summary

A writer expresses their initial struggles with gaining traction on Medium, contrasting their experience with their WordPress blog, and reflects on the platform's social dynamics, community engagement, and growth strategies.

Abstract

The author of the article is grappling with the challenge of adapting to Medium after finding some success on their WordPress blog. Despite reposting content that performed well on WordPress, the author's work has not garnered the same level of engagement on Medium. They liken the experience to being a newcomer to any social media platform, acknowledging the patience required to build a following. The writer compares Medium to a magazine rather than a blog, noting that readers may not expect the same level of interaction with writers as they would on other platforms. Drawing from the experience of another Medium user, Karen Barnes, the author suggests that consistent posting without heavy promotion can lead to organic growth in followers. The author concludes by expressing a preference for genuine readership over superficial popularity and decides to persist with Medium, hoping for gradual growth.

Opinions

The author feels out of place and impatient with the slow start on Medium, akin to a deer in headlights.
They observe that engagement on Medium, such as likes and comments, does not necessarily translate to social media shares or a sense of community, especially when compared to their fiction blog.
The author's expectations of Medium being a highly social platform for writers have not been met, finding it more like a magazine where direct engagement between readers and writers is not the norm.
The writer values quality interactions and true fans over mere popularity, emphasizing the desire for a readership that appreciates their work.
The author is skeptical of strategies that prioritize heavy self-promotion and is encouraged by Karen Barnes' approach of focusing on writing quality content consistently.
Despite the initial setback, the author is willing to invest time in Medium, optimistic about the potential for growth and finding their audience.

Am I wasting my time on Medium?

I’m struggling to make it a week on Medium. Any new platform leaves me feeling like a deer in headlights. Every new social media takes time to grow, but damn it I’m impatient. It’s a ravenous world and every writer is jumping up and down for attention — read me, read me.

My last post was a reposting. It bombed like a baby’s nappy (diaper for Americans out there). Ironically the post broke the record for likes on my WordPress blog in a matter of hours (Writer Confession: I Have a Stick Wedged Up My). A total of 6. I am related to none… randoms — yay, happy dance… Hey, don’t judge me!

I learnt a year into blogging at The Writing Asylum, while the site appears to be a padded cell, the posts are shared on social media (according to my stats). In contrast, my fiction blog, Tannille, is more social with likes and comments but fails at being shared on social media.

I came to Medium with the expectation the platform is a YouTube-Twitter baby for writers. Or social media for writers. Honestly, I’m not seeing it. A lot of writers don’t bother engaging. I’m flapping around like a cat in water. If you have thousands of followers posts do become social media-ish. That’s the top privileged. I’m not feeling a sense of community. Maybe that will come with time.

Karen Barnes wrote a post that has saved my sanity — How I Got 20,000 Followers on Medium. In short, she consistently wrote good articles and did NOTHING else. No heavy promotions. No follow for follow. The same approach I have taken with The Writing Asylum.

In my experience, Medium isn’t really similar to a blog, although that’s how some people use it. I always feel like it’s more like a magazine. People subscribe to a magazine (as they have to subscribe to Medium, if they want to read more than a few stories a month), for a very specific reason: They want to read the articles in it.

They don’t (for the most part) feel the need to engage directly with the writers. They certainly don’t expect the writers to engage directly with them. They don’t really feel like the magazine is a community or a ‘space’ to hang out.

Thanks, Karen, you saved me a lot of time and hair (bald wouldn’t suit my face). The Medium posters I have read, made it seem like I was in for a Twitter experience and engagement is the key. I suppose it might be a strategy for some. Honestly, I’d love some true fans rather than popularity for popularity's sake. Nothing happens overnight… unless you have luck on your side or a sugar daddy. I have neither. So, I’ll plant the medium seed and hope for growth.

If you want to read more about Tannille going crazy, please follow her on Medium or visit The Writing Asylum. Or try some quirky flash fiction.