How We Can Keep Medium From Becoming a Negative Cesspool
Guys, please relax
Every time Medium has been announced dead, I doubled, tripled, and quadrupled down on the platform.
I’ve seen the platform evolve over the years. I’ve seen writers come and go (and even come back again, only to go again). Over the years, I’ve seen several criticisms lobbed Medium’s way, many of which I disagree with.
But there is one specific criticism I wholeheartedly agree with:
There is currently way too much negativity on the platform.
Much of this negativity is coming from newer writers.
There just seems to be a higher percentage of new writers who don’t understand how Medium works, the purpose of the website, and the type of culture that has helped it become a great place for writers to practice their craft.
Either way, I wanted to take a minute to share my two cents, address all criticisms, and help move the platform back in the right direction. If you have a comment, I’ll read and respond.
Before I dive into what our writers could do to make the platform a better place, let’s talk about the thing that makes Medium such a great place for writers to build their careers.
Medium is a Community
I love Medium for many reasons, but above all else, I love it because it helped me make connections with so many amazing people. I’ve met other writers on the same path who have become acquaintances, business partners, and friends.
Medium has been like a second family for me that includes the writers I’ve gotten to know and all of the readers who have supported my work over the years.
Even though for us, it might seem like everyone knows about Medium, it’s still a corner of the web many people don’t even know exists. It’s ours.
Just like you shouldn’t litter all over the neighborhood where you live or start gossiping about your neighbors, you shouldn’t do anything that’s going to spoil the culture or reputation of the platform.
This website presents such a unique opportunity for everyone involved, one that never existed before the website was launched. Let’s all remember that and honor that so we can take Medium to an even higher level.
The next few sections will contain a list of big no-nos for people who want to thrive on Medium.
Don’t Create Massive Levels of Negative Karma by Doing This
Hit-pieces have been common on Medium for years, but it has gone to another level recently.
A hit-piece happens when someone writes a negative article solely about another writer or decides to take shots at multiple writers in a single blog post.
Take my friend Tim Denning for example. I know Tim.
He works his ass off, stays engaged on the platform even with brand new writers, and goes out of his way to create work readers love.
And a ton of readers do. Other writers envy his success. That’s the only reason they write these pieces.
Often, when people write hit pieces they try to frame it as trying to help out fellow writers or readers, but it doesn’t come from a good place at all. A mentally healthy person doesn’t take time out of their way to character assassinate someone via blog post.
That last word is key. Go ahead and critique someone else’s writing, that’s fair game. But the minute you start spewing negative character traits of someone you don’t even know, you’ve crossed the line.
Even if you are just criticizing someone’s writing, just know that you’ve just caught the attention of all the top writers for the absolute worst reason.
When I got started on Medium, top writers started to notice my work when I grew on the platform. They helped me get better at writing, promoted my work, and even struck deals with me.
If you take the time to write these pieces, you’re going to miss out on that love. We want to help you guys.
We know how hard it is to make a name for yourself when you’re just starting off.
Why make the process even harder by actively trying to make enemies with the people who wield the most influence on the platform?
It’s dumb…
Stop Crying and Write Real Blog Posts Instead…
There has been a proliferation of articles on Medium that amount to nothing more than whining, mostly articles whining about a lack of success on Medium.
I get it.
There are plenty of legitimate criticisms and beef you can have, but there’s a right and wrong way to do it. I’ve seen plenty of substantive critiques that just make a thesis about a problem and spell out why the problem occurs. Those are cool.
But the articles in question are the ones that basically come across like this:
Wah Wah…Muh Stats!
Again, it’s a free country and a free platform. I’m not telling you what to do. I’m just saying that writing these sorts of articles will only set you backward.
First, complaining isn’t a strategy to solve any problem. Second, you’re going to create limiting beliefs in your own mind that’ll make it that much harder to succeed.
Approximately 0.00 writers who have written complaining rants have gone on to become top writers.
Most of these articles come from a mental place that describes this next huge no-no when it comes to Medium.
Don’t Point Your Blame in the Wrong Direction
Several times, I’ve come across a writer who was struggling with Medium and gave them suggestions on how to improve. I’ll see a complaint on a Facebook Group or even come across one of the aforementioned articles and try to help out.
Not once has someone responded well to my feedback or taken my advice, which leads to the reason for their lack of success. It’s not Medium’s fault. It’s theirs.
I see so many new writers who make elementary mistakes that keep their views low. What shocks me is just how few of these writers notice it themselves.
Some common mistakes I see are:
- Very obscure and random choices for topics
- Blog posts that read like a personal journal
- Cryptic headlines that are hard to understand
- Poorly formatted posts
- Poor choice in publication
And the main mistake I see is always the same.
Most new writers don’t do nearly enough writing to even make a proper judgment on their performance.
- You should be writing on Medium for at least 90 days before you even take your stats seriously.
- It’ll take you six months to start having a real voice.
- And it’ll take about a year before you can even think of making big bucks here.
Hit those benchmarks first, while evaluating your work by the criteria above, then make judgments about Medium. Time and quality are both a factor.
Some writers write a lot but don’t know what’s wrong with their work so it still falls flat. Look within when the results aren’t what you’d hoped for.
Next, let’s take a look at some of my answers to the common criticisms I see about the platform and the writers on it.
Top Medium Writers Just Took Advantage of the Good Times on Medium
It’s true.
There was a time when you could earn more money and grow your audience faster with the same level of effort a new writer puts into Medium.
The days of $30–50k payouts for top writers are gone and a lot of us benefited from being in the right place at the right time.
But guess what?
There were a bunch of other writers who had the chance to do the same thing and they didn’t fucking do it.
I was already writing on other sites and had momentum in my writing career before I stumbled across Medium. My hard work and preparation helped me seize an opportunity.
You should put yourself in a position to seize opportunities by practicing your writing on Medium right now. Whether or not you will is up to you.
It doesn’t matter which platforms are available for writers, the vast majority of writers will fail because they don’t do the work and/or they quit early.
Even during the ‘gold rush’ days, most writers never made much money on Medium at all for the same exact reasons most writers don’t succeed in general. Because it takes actual work.
The work is the difference between you and the top writers.
Medium Doesn’t Produce Enough ‘Substantive’ Pieces
This is where all the ‘genius writers’ with no audience or body of work to show for themselves chime in.
They claim their lack of success on Medium is due to the platform and its readers failing to recognize the artistic integrity of their work.
The truth is simple: no one wants to read their shit.
When it comes to earning money, the market decides what’s good and what isn’t. Some writing works for commercial purposes than others.
I can’t tell you how much marketing to mix with your art, but I can tell you that trying to force the market to love your writing definitely won’t work.
Medium isn’t the New Yorker. Hell, it tried to be and it didn’t work. They tried hiring editors and bringing outside journalists, ‘experts,’ and thought leaders onto the platform. Nobody wanted to read their shit, either.
Here’s what the gatekeepers and snobs of the world just can’t seem to grasp: A growing number of people love independent media.
We don’t want snobs telling us what kind of content to consume. We’re capable enough of figuring out what art is on our own.
If you want to compete with your words, then compete. I’m game. I’d go toe to toe and word for word with any of you any day of the week.
If you’re truly a genius, people will recognize it. If not, maybe you should look in the mirror.
Medium Should “Level Out the Playing Field”
A lot of writers are calling for Medium to ‘pay a living wage’ or ‘help out the middle-class writers’ which is just code for saying that they want Medium to redistribute views like a country that seeks to redistribute wealth.
Medium isn’t a charity or an employer. No one should complain about how fair or unfair the platform is. Instead, we should all create our best work, put in the effort to succeed, and let the chips fall where they may.
Most of the great innovations in the world happened because people had an incentive to create them; the promise of massive reward.
This is why entrepreneurs deserve to make more money than their employees. They get paid for the risk they take.
If you write an article on Medium, you take the risk of people not reading it. That’s part of the game. But that risk carries the promise of outsized returns — viral articles, huge payouts, and large follower counts.
A small number of writers with dramatic results on Medium isn’t any different than the fact that most books barely sell any copies and a few are major hits. It’s just the way the game goes.
Play the game to win. Don’t try to change the rules. You can rise up the ranks of Medium. I have students who have 20xd their views on Medium, even in the past few months.
Medium isn’t a dead-end for new writers. Any one of you can still become a top writer if you’re patient enough to make it happen.
Final Thoughts
Yall need to chill lol
We’re all adults here.
Don’t let Medium become another one of those places that get ruined by the strange way people can find themselves negatively behaving behind a computer screen.
It’s, honestly, weird.
Just write your best stuff and see what happens. If Medium works for you, awesome. If it doesn’t, you’re free to take your ball and go elsewhere.
But, just have enough self-esteem and respect to act like a grown-up either way.
Learn how to become a top Medium writer with my free 5-day course