Has Medium Changed Its Algorithm Again?

You May Not Be Getting Enough Reads for a Reason

If you are a writer on Medium like me, you must be concerned about your reads.

Most specifically, your stats.

You want to know who only viewed your stories, and who actually read them.

Traditional writers may wonder what this fuss is all about.

Sorry Sir, we’re just trying to fill our bellies.

I write on Medium.

For every article I write, Medium pays me a couple of cents that sometimes doubles into dollars.

Medium does not pay me to clap, comment or highlight someone else’s article. But I do it anyway. It is a sign of commitment. My commitment towards my relationship with you. It is an expression of my presence in this relationship.

If I just read your articles without leaving a proper digital footprint, how will you know how much I appreciated your writing?

And as a human being who is as selfish as every other creature on Earth, I expect something similar for me.

If I give you a jam tart, I want a lemon curd tart in return.

Gracia Kleijnen doesn’t mind highlighting the crap out of someone’s article because it tells that her people are paying attention. For her, it is a high form of validation.

Pamela Hazelton thinks both claps and comments are important. This is what she has to say.

Claps are the currency you give writers for educating, entertaining, inspiring, or even scolding you.

Comments are like product reviews, but for the writer more than anyone else.

Claps, comments and highlights are important tools, no doubt. But remember, they’re just the cherry on the cake.

The actual cake is something else. It is Reads.

Every writer wants reads because Medium pays for reads.

Reads means reads. Not views.

Read that again.

What you see above is a screenshot of the stats of my most popular article till date. Both views and reads are the highest for this article.

Look at the difference between the views and reads.

3.9K views sounds great, but I don’t get paid for that. I only get paid for the 883 reads.

Now, if 883 is the highest number of reads I have ever got for an article, imagine how bad my other reads are.

Don’t laugh when I say I have some articles with less than 10 reads. Some even drop down to 3, 2, 1 and 0.

So, you can understand by now that I know it when someone reads my articles.

I told you that before, didn’t I?

And that’s how I got this weird feeling that Medium may have secretly changed its algorithm once again.

I checked it everywhere on the internet, but did not find any mention of it yet. This is why this is a speculation as of now.

But the moment I sniff out something, I will let you all know.

My thesis is simple.

The way we read articles does not work anymore because Medium might have changed its algorithm again.

This is the screenshot of my two recent articles.

I personally enjoyed writing both these articles. So, I think they are pretty good.

The last one has not got any reads yet, and the one before that got only 1 read. I know who read it by the way- Casey Botticello. That’s because just before his name popped on my notification, my reads was zero. Thanks Casey!

Now, let me be clear on one thing.

I have some good friends on Medium who live by their principles. If they read my article they read it. They always clap too. Sometimes they comment and highlight while other times they don’t. But that doesn’t matter. Because they read it. And I appreciate the time they spend reading my articles.

Every time I see their claps on my notification, I know my read just increased by 1.

Except for now.

Now, all of a sudden, I don’t see those reads anymore. I know my good friends have read my article because they have clapped, highlighted their favourite parts, and left a valuable comment.

But why is there no read then?

That’s my question!

My dear friends, please don’t get mad at me. I am sorry if I offended you, but I mean no harm. I know you read my articles. But I wonder why Medium doesn’t show the reads.

My plan is to personally reach out to my good friends and ask them for a favour. I am going to ask them to read one of my articles and tell them I will do the same. Then, I will ask them to see if their read has increased or not. I will do the same.

I just want to know if our reading style does not work anymore. In that case, we may have to change our reading styles.

My doubts lie in these two areas:

• If we read a 5 minute article, what is the minimum time we must spend reading that article for it to count as a ‘read’? What if we spend a little less than 5 minutes like we used to before?
• While reading, if we highlight something and respond to that highlight, does that time get included in the reading time or not? Or is the reading time exclusive of any time we spend engaging with the writer’s content?

If you have also witnessed reduced reads for your articles, please reach out to your friends. Drop a private note and do as I just said.

Something is clearly not working anymore.

We need to figure this out before we lose more cents (or dollars).

If you love my work and wish to support me, please subscribe to my work for free. And if you want to become a Medium member for $5 a month, please click on my referral link. I will earn a small commission from that, and you will get to read everything Medium has to offer.

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