How You are Destroying Medium — From a Frustrated Medium Lover

Time to protect writers’ interests as well as the platform we love

No, I am not a top writer. But I am a person who genuinely fell in love with Medium right at the first sight. Some of us have some complaints against today’s Medium articles and their writers. I too have few and I’m quite frustrated with it.

I’m not sure if people would like this straightforwardness, but I am going ahead to say it loud. I decided to speak my mind today.

Here you go.

1. How to Increase Your Followers from 5000 to 10,000

Follow for a follow, Follower journeys, How to gain 100 followers in a day, Follow! FOLLOW! — How many of us might have been sick of reading these articles and comments.

I agree that 100 followers is the minimum required for joining the Medium Partners Program. Even I have commented here and there seeking followers, but isn’t there a limit to it? People who gained 100, would like to race to 500 and then to 1000. How did I gain 1000 followers in 1 month — no I’m not interested to read.

No, I am not in a hurry and I need not gain followers in a jiffy. It’s of no use to gain followers, just for the sake of numbers, who don’t read or appreciate your work. People who like your work will follow you to read more from you and it takes time.

Gaining more followers is not directly proportional to more readership.

2. New Writers. How to Write Articles Which People Read

Writers here know that ‘writing’ is a topic that everyone wants to read about. So, everyone would like to flaunt his/her earnings so that readers get attracted to the article and the writer makes some quick bucks out of it.

Many articles don’t make sense. I do not want to copy-paste or trace from successful writers and their articles. Everyone has the same set of suggestions to make as if they have invented the recipe.

Kindly stop writing articles on the topic of how to make earnings or on the topic of writing. Enough suggestions and guidance have been facilitated on this matter by the experts and the new writers can help themselves.

Research properly before you post and post only if you actually have something new to recommend.

3. Madness About Earnings-How I Made $514 From a Single Article

I am not curious to know that. Maybe your article is good or luck favoured you.

If my article is good, it will automatically earn. I am happy to see good earnings, no doubt, but not by fooling the readers. Several clickbait titles with no deserved matter written but ending with some ‘good to hear’ statements are the present trend on the platform.

Dear audience, Wake up! Don’t fall prey to such articles. If you would like to, just research the topic of ‘writing’ for once and try all the methods. There will be nothing to learn from most of such articles and it’s just that these authors want to earn from such writings.

Believe me, none of the strategies work for the long term. The only thing which will prevail in the long term is quality writing. I have read similar views from elena vellani in her article asking writers to just be their true selves instead of following suggestions around SEO. Appreciate it.

If Medium announces that there won’t be any earnings on articles written on ‘how to write’ or ‘how much you earned’, I bet writing on these topics will take a plunge.

If you are that interested to help a fellow writer, offer to review others’ work and give suggestions. You may not be an expert but you can do proofreading and as a second eye you may be useful.

Become useful to others by reviewing other’s works instead of regurgitating the already said

4. Write Every Day to Beat the Algorithm and Do Not Bother About Quality of the Article

I understand, you become better by writing every day. This suggestion should only be given to so-called ‘perfectionists’ and not to any Tom, Dick, and Harry whom you encounter.

This has been taken in a completely different sense by many of us. For instance, I read in an article that — Writing continuously for 50 days and each of the articles will earn you 0.10$ at leastto aggregate to $5 every day — Oh! Give me a break. Write to improve quality and not to beat the algorithm.

Do not underestimate your readers. Readers will not read any crap you write.

A writer wrote an article as to how he earned $200 from a single article — about how to benefit from raising interest rates. The article did not add any value at all and it ended too soon without concrete matter or a sensible conclusion. Clickbait titles with short-length write-ups is an easy form to cheat the reader. After reading the whole article, I didn’t like the same and I just wanted to ‘unread’ it but there is no option to do so.

Someday, frustrated with such posts, your readers will start muting you. Instead, the best option, if it can be provided by Medium, is to give a thumbs-down button and I would not think twice to do it, for wasting my time.

Be proud of not the earnings made, but how helpful your article was to the readers. Have no regrets of earning from writing a crappy article.

Suggestions to Medium

• Please set up a rule to ban writers from earning on articles written on writing or the earnings they made
• Let the Writer know that some reader has muted him/her (identity to be hidden) after reading a particular article of the Writer
• Introduce a thumbs-down button (dislike) on the articles

Don’t take me wrong. I’m not here to spread hate nor am I being arrogant. I’m just being assertive. And, I am not generalising. I respect proper guidance from the top writers as well as from the new writers. I’m not against writers making money or bragging about it. I’m just against articles that have no concrete point to convey, while come associated with clickbait titles and enjoying the fruits of the outcome.

For all of those who hate my post — If Medium adopts my suggestion, please feel free if you would want this to be the first article to get disliked!

I am not even a top writer or a high earner over here, I’m just the average guy. But my eligibility to write this article is ‘I love Medium and I love writing’ and I will always talk and stand for its betterment.

Don’t run behind success. Become so much capable that success runs behind you.

Write for the love of writing and earnings may follow.

Cheers!

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