Build Your Following by Commenting and Responding on Medium
Getting more social can get you noticed fast
There are two types of writers on Medium. Those who get noticed and those who don’t.
Are You Type 1?
You publish a story on Medium and when you check back later you find that you have lots of claps and comments. Medium is great — People like you, they really like you!
Or Type 2?
You published a brilliant story and nobody notices. You have zero claps and no comments. Zilch. You think, “What am I doing wrong? Maybe Medium is not for me.”
Hint: You’re not in the wrong place. You just need to start using the social media aspects of Medium pronto!
So how do you make the move and get people to start noticing you?
It’s easy really. You just need to engage more on Medium and start to mingle with comments and responses.
Here’s 4 ways you can get more engaged fast.
- Always leave a comment when you read a story you really like. You can also highlight a part of the story and then click on the comment bubble to add the quote as shown in the images below. This makes your comment more interesting and often sparks more interaction.
- If you get a comment from someone, respond to it. You can acknowledge it with a quick Thanks or a longer message depending on the conversation. I also like to use the person’s name in responses because I think that’s more friendly and people feel seen when you do it. I know I do.
- Start clapping for stories you like. I always leave 50 claps because if I decide to do it, I’m going all in with the maximum claps allowed. If that’s too exuberant for you then leave 20 or 30. Claps are all about supporting the writer, so don’t be stingy :)
- Engage on a regular basis. Check your Medium notifications to see what’s going on. Just click on the bell and then you’ll see a list of claps, comments and responses from people on your stories. On the desktop app the bell will show you the number of new notifications you have waiting for you in the queue.
Here’s some more ideas for getting noticed on Medium that you can try too.
Key Message: Remember, you control how you show up on Medium. You can be friendly and engage with other writers and readers or you can hide in the corner and hope someone notices you. The choice is up to you!
Linda Locke is a writer and mentor/teacher. She lives in Southern California in Ventura County by the Coast with her husband and lots and lots of books.
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