Dear Medium, Why Can We Mute Writers Whose Names Are Hidden?
The new homepage UX is horrible
I don’t like the new homepage. Coming here feels like buying a grab bag at the carnival, now. Maybe there’s something good... feeling lucky?
If there’s anything the internet has taught us, it’s that titles are no indication of quality. Now they’re all we have.
Once upon a time, you said writers earn more if they have “loyal readers.” Remember? You said if we had “loyal” readers, we’d be rewarded.
You took that away without a blink or a hiccup.
And didn’t bother to warn us.
Not that you have to. Your playhouse, your rules. You sang the praises of frictionless reading, new design options and short form content. You did not even mention that writer’s names will be removed from the homepage.
Kind of feels like a glaring oversight, no?
So how, exactly, are writers supposed to have loyal readers? You want I should go out on the internet at large and send people to my profile? So they can be counted as external reads that I don’t get paid for?
Hardly seems fair.
But that’s not even the biggest oversight.
Why can we mute or block writers without knowing who they are? Doesn’t seem right.
It’s bad enough you took away the writers’ names. But you took away the option to dismiss a story, too. Remember that option?
Readers could click the 3 dots and dismiss a story.
I liked that feature a lot. It felt like I had some control over my feed. I could remove stories I didn’t want to see.
Because honestly? There’s a lot of trash here. And by trash, I mean stuff I don’t personally want to read.
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Maybe some people want to read the habits of the CEOs that are driving everyone into poverty. I do not.
When I could “dismiss” stories, I could disappear the hustle culture, internet marketing nonsense, what time rich white men wake up and how to earn a bajillion dollars on Medium. Poof. Gone. Yay!
Dismissing content allowed me to love my homepage. But now? I can’t dismiss a story anymore.
I can, however, mute or block a writer. Without knowing who they are.
Matter of fact, those are the only options you give us. If we don’t like a title on our homepage, you let us choose. Mute… or block? Without even knowing who the writer IS.
What the…?
Seems like a glaring oversight, doesn’t it?
There’s an alternative, of course. We can mute the entire publication.
What the… ?
Does that not seem a little excessive? Honestly, it’s a terrible user experience.
Why can’t we dismiss a story anymore?
I don’t like muting or blocking people. It’s immature. Who blocks another writer because “ooh, I didn’t like that title.” Infantile. Juvenile, even.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Just because a writer writes one story that pushes my buttons doesn’t mean I want to mute the writer.
What was wrong with just dismissing a story? Why did you take that away?
Personally, I save muting and blocking for trolls and angry dudes who can’t bring manners when they read feminist posts.
Not because I didn’t like a title. Geebus.
I bought into that “loyal readers” thing…
I found writers I used to come here to read. I became “their” loyal reader. And you took that away. Not just from writers, but from readers, too.
Now? I hesitate to click.
Let me give you an example. If I see a title about feminism — I want to know who wrote it. If it’s Jessica, I’m clicking. Done deal. But if it’s that patriarchal princess feminist-hater? Zero interest in giving her a click.
But I don’t get to know that anymore. Nope. It’s all about the titles now.
If I wanted anonymous hot takes, the internet is full of them.
If I wanted random opinions from anyone who has one, without any idea who they are, I can get that at Reddit, thank you very much. If I want to title surf, that’s what Buzzfeed is for. Or Upworthy, or Quora.
I am so frustrated, it’s not even funny.
Medium was different. Medium was like nothing else on the internet. Head and shoulders above. It was a place where writers could find their readers, and readers could find writers they enjoyed reading.
Was. Past tense.
Now all we have is titles to go by. The writers I came here to read? Buried in an ocean of titles.
And if I don’t like the titles that grace my homepage feed? My option is to mute or block the writer. Without knowing who they are.
Wow. I hope you fix that.
/rant
“Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the customer gets out of it.” — Peter Drucker