How to Be a Good Medium Citizen

A guide on how readers and writers can treat each other respectfully

When I first found myself on Medium in December of 2018, I had the feeling that I’d been parachuted into a carnival with a wristband for free rides. I skimmed across one headline after another, until I was lured as if by magic down to a subhead, and then I was pulled into the first paragraph to see if the strength of it could validate the rest of the article’s promise.

I was pretty selective, and though I didn’t analyze it at the time, I was following a very self-centered criterion — the way it happens with each of us on the unconscious level. I didn’t finish every article I started. The first one I remember finishing was about the importance of caves and caverns to a certain ancient religious experience. I remember feeling inspired. I wanted to thank her for writing her article and to try to explain why I had such strong feelings about her treatment of the subject.

I looked for a like icon. Not finding one, I did see a small gray hand with, let’s say, 254 claps beside it. I understood and added my clap, seeing the number rise to 255. Below that, I found a green box with “Write the first response” in it.

My comment must have run into hundreds of words. Her article struck that deep and personal a chord in me. It was like I opened a sluice gate and words rolled into feelings, including questions that I hoped would inspire a dialogue. It all spilled out onto the screen.

Tilting at Windmills?

Since then, I’ve read and written hundreds of articles — more likely thousands — and of the many lessons I learned, two important ones are related to this article I’m writing:

• One clap is not a check mark signifying that you’ve finished reading the article or story. I’m probably slower than most, but I honestly didn’t realize that until several articles later when my forefinger must have stuttered on the hand icon and yielded two claps. Amazed, I then kept my finger pressed on it and was astounded to see it went all the way up to 50. 50 claps!
• Claps are a true thermometer indicating the degree of the article’s temperature to the reader. Would you agree?
• Just as reading an article from the headline to the final period follows the narrow highway of what’s-in-it-for-me, so the reader follows the same highway to the response box. W.I.I.F.M dictates whether the reader will leave a comment in the response box.
• From the other side of the table, and in the same way, W.I.I.F.M applies to the author responding to the reader’s comment. I still feel the abrasive sting of not getting so much as a thank-you for my praise of that first article I commented on.

A change in algorithms

Up until mid-November of last year, total applause was the number one driver of monetary reward at Medium. Claps had the sweet sound of coin jingling in the writer’s pocket in those days. Whether that allowed inroads to author manipulation in the interest of his paycheck is moot.

Whatever the rationale, in the new regime, claps lost their value for the writer’s pocketbook.

I’m going to gnarl a metaphor here, but with the change, it’s like we went from having the total vote determine a presidential victory to a kind of electoral-college-averaging version, where the candidate (or the writer) feels further removed from his constituents (or readers) than pre-November, 2019.

Please don’t think I’m quarreling with an algorithm that’s purposely designed — as it must be — for me not to understand.

The Real Issue

But I have deep-seated grievances, anyway — elemental grievances, that I need to air.

As we read an article, a story, or a poem on Medium, can we divorce ourselves from the writer who wrote it? Please. Allow that sentence to percolate in your mind a moment longer. When I wrote the sentence, I was making the assumption that those of you who read it are also writers. I’m guessing that 75% of us are. But even if you aren’t a writer, as you come to the end of an article, story, or poem, do you feel indebted, even in a small way, to its author?

Okay, it held your interest long enough to finish it, right? It produced some sort of emotional response in you, didn’t it? You loved it. You hated it. It angered you. It made you think. You felt something.

You had to feel something!

Readers and writers

Unlike the experience of finishing one physical magazine article in a doctor’s office waiting room and going on to the next article, as a reader, you have the opportunity on Medium to share your human experience with another human, the author. We’ll pick up the thread of this in a moment after I address the writer.

Fellow writer, as we read an article, a story, or a poem on Medium, can we divorce ourselves from its writer? Of course, writing must stand on its own merits, and in that respect, its writer shouldn’t even be present as a shadow cast over the piece. Right? In other words, a Tim Denning inspirational, or a Bryan Ye tutorial don’t deserve free passes through the gilded gates of greatness simply because you’ve sampled others from their glittering portfolios of successful posts.

What I mean is something more basic. Should we divorce ourselves from our elemental sisterhood and brotherhood with the author of that piece we’d finished?

Aside from the content, think of our shared experience, our commonality: you, me, and the writer whose post we’d just been introduced to. Whether we craft our work at five, six, or seven in the morning, we all put in our hours — often lonely hours working to connect in that mystical way with another human being. And we stake everything on the premise that deep under the skin we are all the same whether we’re from California, New York City, Shanghai, or the bush of Australia. In a solitary moment, bent over our solitary desks, we have the power to push the perfect combination of keys on our computers, and a person from the other side of the world laughs or smiles or cries.

Tell me if I’m wrong, but that mysterious connection between writer and reader on the experiential and the existential level is what keeps us reporting to duty at our computer each day, isn’t it?

So, to rephrase my earlier question: after we’ve finished reading an article, story, poem, should we be conscience-bound to respond, even in a minimal way, to the author? By the pantheon of earthly gods and all that is holy above (and excuse me for shouting here), I say yes we are!

A Clap, Applause, and a Few Words

With the payment of my membership, a year and a few months ago, I pledged to myself that if anything I read here was worth reading to its conclusion, then that writer deserves hearing from me.

To this day I haven’t knowingly violated my pledge — knowingly, because sometimes, in the middle of my comment, I realize I hadn’t included my claps, and I return to them when I finish. Unless…well, I can’t say for certain I’ve always gone back, but I’ve intended to.

I feel my obligation acutely. My hope is that by studying the categories below you will, at the very least, understand why I feel so strongly about that obligation. My real hope is that many will examine themselves and come closer to embracing its tenets.

Highlighting

We’re probably pretty much alike. We highlight whatever jumps out at us in the post as well-phrased, or profound, funny, or whatever.

I have my suspicions (though I have no way of supporting them), that some people use highlighting as signposts or markers near the end of an article they have merely skimmed. It’s a kind of flag you’d find at the North Pole or at the top of Mount Everest, signifying, “I was here.” Particularly in longer posts, those running 11 or 12 minutes in length, I’ve noticed a clot of colored highlights in the last paragraph with a dozen or so names across from them in the margin. Some of those names couldn’t be found elsewhere in the post.

I may be wrong. I probably am.

You may have noticed the pop-up remark box when you highlight. Did you glimpse also the little padlock icon? You can click that to leave a private note for the writer. If I read one of your posts that contained a typo in an otherwise professionally written piece, I use that private note to point it out to you. Only one person has thanked me for catching it. I’m sure it was you. You’re welcome.

Commenting

There are two places to respond to a post.

• In the pop-up box after you complete your highlight. I’m a big fan of responding to whatever prompted me to highlight something. To me, it’s akin to writing notes in the margin of a book. It’d be nice if Medium could print them in the margin across from the highlight; I often bookmark a post to reread later and it would be nice to have it there as contextual material. At least they do include it as part of one’s overall comment.
• The actual end-of-post comment. To me, this is entirely non-negotiable. And really, is there any other conceivable excuse, besides laziness, that you can come up with not to leave a comment? Too busy? Bull! “Loved it.” “Thank you.” Twenty seconds and you’re out of there. And even if you hated it. Come on! You’re a writer. You know how to be honest and still soften it instead of delivering a verbal kick in the groin. Listen, we only have to exhibit enough human caring and empathy to overcome our tendency toward self-centering indolence. Is that asking too much?

Clapping

Here you’ll forgive me, but I’m taking off my gloves.

Clapping was my point of focus when I devised the title, “How to Be a Good Medium Citizen.”

If there is one topic in this article that will alienate the reader it will be my stand on clapping. In fact, my first title was going to be, “What Is the Sound of One Clap Handing the Writer.” (Pretty obscure, I know.) I rejected it because it was the reversal of a Zen koan, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” I wasn’t sure of the currency of that koan today, and my title would’ve made little sense if the reader hadn’t heard of the original.

Besides, that title was doing a fair amount of pussy-footing. If I’m going to deliver a judgment, it needs to be direct and to the point!

Allow me to start by asking you a question upon which my whole argument is hinged: when you finish reading a post and clap for it, how can the number of claps you assign to it be anything but a measure of the effect that article had on you?

And isn’t it true that two or three claps are more telling than the single clap, because the latter can reflect ignorance that one is able to give more than one clap, while the former reflects a reader who is making a deliberate statement?

Is that a fair assessment?

If you agree with it, then when a reader gives only one or a few claps, it can signify only a limited number of things:

• That the reader is brand new to Medium and assumes a clap has the same significance as a “like” on Facebook. Remember that I admitted to being guilty of doing the same thing after the first article I read. It’s mathematically impossible, though, that all one-clappers are hiding behind that screen of ignorance.
• A lack of human caring, a kind of ego-centric insouciance. This has to be considered as a possibility, I suppose, but I refuse to believe that such a mindset would permit its owner to complete anything longer than, say, a three-liner poem anyway, let alone clap for it. They would be more in the read-and-go group of non-clappers.
• Abysmal laziness overtaking the time to wait until the clapping numbers rise. There is a nano-second delay before it progresses. I don’t want to think I’m right on this, but there is a good chance that this is the largest prevailing reason for the solitary clap.
• The reader didn’t even finish the piece. Ah-ha! If we add the offenders for this category to the preceding one, I think we’ve tapped into the duo-motivation (abysmal laziness) of the majority of single-digit clappers. You’ll find among them — if my earlier speculation about North Pole flaggers is right — those who highlight only the last paragraph of an unfinished article.
• An expression of non-concern since double-digit claps no longer carry the monetary reward of pre-November, 2019. I believe this, though, would be a mindset that few would hold, unless they were the writers who placed so much importance on it during the previous algorithm.
• The awarding of a single-digit clap signified a person who had a horrible reading experience. Okay! We’ve now entered the arena where single-digit clapping has its authentic purpose. It’s a statement that could be the numerical expression of courage. But here I can’t stress it strenuously enough that the reader needs to have cajones enough to follow it with a comment that is commensurate with its rating. Otherwise, it’s better to give no clap at all and remain an infant, mewling in a crib of anonymity.
• The reader feels wronged and the single-digit clap reflects a grudge. You've got a problem, mister or ma’am, that’s beyond the scope of this article and it doesn’t deserve spotlighting here.

Developing a System for Clapping and Commenting

In order to repair what I sincerely feel is a broken system in an otherwise thriving medium, we need to begin work on an individual basis. If every Medium member who reads this article — making me an instantly wealthy man, by the way— finds themselves somewhere in the above list, and even a small number of them commit to doing their part in repairing the system by changing the way they interact with the writer, Medium will be entering a renaissance of caring for each other.

I urge each of us to make that commitment.

Responding to an article, story, or poem

I already explained that any article worth finishing was, for me, worth commenting on. That hasn’t changed. I made it non-negotiable when I am faced with the contrary forces of my laziness.

Now I’m asking you, humbly, to do the same in the spirit of kindness. It will take just a few moments, but you will be rewarded immeasurably.

On the other hand, I have a request to make of the author of a post. If a reader takes the time to respond to your piece, show them respect by answering it. I am saddened by noticing what I can only describe as the arrogant silence of the crème de la crème of Medium. You know them well. As far as I’m concerned, they would deserve a loss of respect from their fan base and a diminution in their numbers.

The vast number of Medium writers, on the other hand, are eager for dialogue with their readers.

Clapping for a post

I must say, however, I’ve been spotty in my clapping. I erred more on the side of kindness, dishing out far too many 50s.

What I’m offering below is a guide that you might want to adapt your own after. As soon as I finish mine, I will print it on an index card to have beside my computer when I read a post. It’s part of my commitment to change.

My guide

• 3–5 claps: I can’t imagine reading something so lacking in merit that I would only give 3–5 claps for it, but I’m leaving the category open for one such post that happens by. In my response to such a piece, however, my comment will be candid in its criticism while looking for something redeeming to say about it.
• 6–10 claps: This differs only in degree with the preceding.
• 11–20 claps: This gets into the range of content that offers a decent reading experience but is wanting in a few areas. My comments might include something like, “I’d like to have seen more x,” or “You make a good case for y, but …”
• 21–35 claps: This is reserved for an article that moves me in one way or another, but lacks that something special to rank higher.
• 36–45 claps: A professional, well-written, well-edited piece which satisfies what it set out to do and is praiseworthy, falls into this category. It would take something very special to rise beyond it.
• 46–50 claps: I would reserve this ranking for a post that is unique in its presentation and whose author’s voice is distinctive.

Thank you for not closing your ears to my rant. If you take my concerns at all seriously, let your friends know about our cause. With each one doing his or her part, we can, as a group, raise our level of caring to unrealized heights.

And the air up there, after all, will be so invigorating for each of us!