FROM MY MEDIUM EXPERIENCE
I Served My Time In Jail. Again.
Medium wants us to engage, but punishes us when we do
We all know Medium has changed their algorithm on 1 August 2023 and they expect us to engage more.
Engagement pays.
No, it doesn’t pay when we engage with others. It pays when others engage with you. But for others to engage with you, you have to engage with them.
It’s a two-way street, right?
I, for one, wouldn’t expect anyone to read my stuff if I’m not reciprocating, which is why I have designed a system for myself — one that works.
For me.
So, the bottom line of this intro: engagement is the way to go.
Why then did I end up in jail?
Okay, let’s first clarify what I see as jail.
Jail is when a platform blocks you from using it the way it’s intended to be used.
I once was very active on Twitter, in conversation with other people, sharing new tweets, etcetera — the way we should use Twitter. But, I used it a bit too much and Twitter shut me out. I had to wait 24 hours before I could tweet again, as I had been too active and Twitter didn’t like that.
But, this article is about Medium.
I ended up in Medium jail, because I posted too many ‘stories’.
This happened while I commented on the work of others and replied to their comments on mine.
I could not comment anymore.
I was in Medium jail!
Wait! What?
Yes, that was my thought exactly.
What happened to Medium wanting us to engage?
There I was, eagerly engaging with others, complying with what the Medium gods want from us, and they punished me.
They punished me!
So, I complained.
I received a reply from the Medium support staff
I saw their reply the morning after I had sent them an email.
They were aware of the problem and working on it.
See how they call it responses here, while the error message I received above said ‘stories’?
I ended up in jail three times more after that.
The last time, I complained again, replying to the email above.
This is what I wrote:
And this is what I received back:
Honestly, that question blew my mind. So I replied again:
And I received this back:
All the above raises questions
First there is the fact that Medium has the limitation where you cannot post more than 100 stories in 24 hours.
Okay, let’s just stop here for a bit.
100 stories in 24 hours?
Who in this world even has time to write 100 stories to be published in 24 hours? In the past, I have unsubscribed from people who posted one story every hour! Too much for me, thank you!
However, in the email I received, they mentioned ‘responses’ not stories. Still, when you leave a response Medium sees it as a story.
This is an ‘error’ on Medium, which landed me in jail: they view every comment as a story.
Have you ever seen that when you receive a reaction to your comment? Medium calls it a reply to your story.
Then my second question: how could they not understand that this is hurting my income? How can they not understand that not being able to read and comment on the work of others, it means no one will come to me, hence, less income? That really baffles me!
Please engage, but not too much?
What was Medium trying to tell me?
On the one hand, they say: engage, engage, engage.
On the other, they hold up this huge stop sign.
Why?
Why can’t we engage when that is exactly what they are promoting with the August changes?
Working on it
Medium said they’re working on it.
Maybe I should just mail them every time I end up in jail. Drive them crazy with my emails, so they just get on with it and change this? It shouldn’t be so difficult to view comments differently from stories, should it?
And speaking of that… as far as I’m concerned, please limit the number of stories a day to five, instead of 100?!
Come on, Medium, when you implement a change, make sure you iron out all wrinkles before you do so?
I. Want. To. Engage!
PS: I wonder if Tony Stubblebine can help me!
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