Does It Matter When You Post a Story on Medium?

The best time to post a story for maximum readership, according to artificial intelligence

I am fascinated by Medium’s algorithm.

Ever since I started on Medium, I’ve been doing my best to learn how to navigate the platform like a pro.

So, of course, I wanted to know if there is a perfect time to post a story on Medium for maximum readership and engagement.

To date, I’ve posted at various times throughout the week. Sadly, I never kept track of when I posted and therefore did not collect any data. If you are new, make sure you track the day and time you post to understand reader engagement for your stories.

Since I did not have any data on the subject, I decided to do a little research and immediately turned to the experts on Medium for the answer.

Expert Advice on Medium

Here is a short list of advice I found on Medium.

• Kristina God analyzed over 500 of her articles and found that a perfect time was difficult to ascertain because results were all over the map. Experimentation with your audience is key.
• Michael Sall did a study and believes we are asking the wrong question. He said creating better content is more important than posting at the right time.
• Ali Dodangi wrote a story called What’s the Best Time to Publish on Medium and offers five suggestions to increase readership but still contends you have to find the right time for your specific audience.
• Finally, Kristina God wrote another article stating Monday to Wednesday works the best for her audience and reader engagement.

While the expert advice was informative, I still wanted more information. I wanted something a little more concrete.

So, I thought I would ask ChatGPT for advice on the matter.

Of Course, ChatGPT Has an Answer!

To begin, I asked ChatGPT, “What is the best time to post a story on Medium for maximum readership?”

ChatGPT stated it can only provide general guidelines on the best time to post and that writers may need to experiment to find the best time to post for a specific audience.

That answer seemed fair and similar to the information I received from the experts.

Then, ChatGPT provided general guidelines below for posting on Medium and the reasoning behind it (AI generated).

• Weekdays between 8 am to 11 am — This is when people are typically commuting to work or settling in for the day and may have some time to read.
• Weekdays between 12 pm to 2 pm — This is when people are usually taking their lunch break and might be scrolling through their social media feeds. (The photo above actually shows the perfect time to post on a Monday!)
• Weekdays between 4 pm to 6 pm — This is when people are finishing up work and could be checking their emails and social media before leaving the office.
• Sundays between 9 am to 11 am — Many people use their Sundays to catch up on reading and may have some free time in the morning.

The general guidelines to post on Medium by ChatGPT appear to be logical and the reasoning behind it seems sound based on known human behavior.

However, keep in mind that it does omit the evenings and Saturdays which could be prime reading days.

Is the Information Flawed?

The flaw in this logic is your audience is most likely all over the world. Personally, I find I have many readers from the UK who connect with me on a regular basis.

It would work perfectly if you are on Eastern Time and all your readers are in the same time zone. Additionally, you may reside in the Eastern Time zone and when you post at lunchtime per the general guidelines, someone else may be heading home from work in another time zone.

It is clearly not an exact science, but it does give us a baseline for experimentation with our audiences.

Closing and Key Takeaways

The question I posed at the beginning of this article is, “Does It Matter When You Post a Story on Medium?”

Some experts think there is a “right time” to post, as does ChatGPT, and others feel there are too many factors in play to give a definitive answer.

However, the information from experts and artificial intelligence should be a helpful starting point to test the times and days for yourself.

There are so many factors that go into posting at the right time, and with experimentation, you’ll be able to determine the best time to increase readership and engagement with your audience.

I would love to hear if any of these times or days resonate with you or if you had success at a different time or day.

We have so much to learn from each other and I look forward to hearing from you. Best of luck on your writing journey!

Disclaimer: Sections of this article were generated using artificial intelligence technology (clearly indicated by dividers). While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information presented, AI content may not be 100% factual. I make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability with respect to the information contained in the article. Any reliance you place on such information is, therefore, strictly at your own risk.

P.S. This story is from Day 5 of my writing streak. If you want to learn more about streaking, check out this ILLUMINATION article.