Summary
Illumination by Dr. Mehmet Yildiz experienced a significant drop in followers, from 98k to 35k, due to Medium's purge of fake accounts and bots to provide a more accurate representation of audience size, with many other users, including the author, also experiencing smaller follower count reductions.
Abstract
In a recent update, Medium took action against inauthentic accounts, leading to a substantial decrease in followers for many users. Notably, Illumination by Dr. Mehmet Yildiz lost 63k followers overnight, as reported by S M Mamunur Rahman. This cleanup was part of Medium's effort to ensure that follower counts reflect genuine engagement, affecting writers like Roz Warren, who saw her followers drop from 7.8k to 6.8k. The author initially attributed their personal loss of followers to writing about a sensitive topic—sex drive and parenthood—but later learned of Medium's initiative to remove fake accounts and bots. Medium's team confirmed the removal of such accounts to provide content creators with a more authentic audience metric. The platform also introduced new updates and features, including the ability to clap more than 200 times for a story, which were communicated in a post discussing the recent changes and a humorous bug.
Opinions
- The author initially believed their decrease in followers was due to content sensitivity regarding sex drive and parenthood.
- The Medium team's announcement about the removal of fake accounts and bots was met with relief by the author, as it clarified the reason behind the follower drop.
- Medium's action to remove inauthentic accounts is seen as a positive step towards gaining a more accurate sense of genuine audience size.
- The author acknowledges the broader impact of Medium's updates, which not only affect follower counts but also introduce new functionalities and address bugs on the platform.
