I Was Told Off By a Medium Writer Again
Oops!
Years ago, I came across a rather prickly Medium member who dropped into my comments to tell me that, “Some of us choose not to write for children”. The story was entitled: Writing for Children: Change Your Point of View!
A very weird conversation ensued where I was told off for “omitting to indicate that not everyone chooses to write for children”.
I’m not in the habit of stating the bleeding obvious in my articles. I reckon if someone isn’t interested in the subject matter of an article they should not click on the headline. But this person seemed hellbent on telling me off and trying to get me to apologise for my mistakes.
I laughed and shrugged it off, but they went on to develop a habit of complaining in my comments. They were obsessed with read-for-read, and apparently, I wasn’t doing my duty. I wasn’t reading enough. Neither were a bunch of other ungrateful people on Medium. We were all rotters.
This person spent a good deal of time on Medium moaning about this, despite me obligingly going into their stories, reading and commenting to keep the peace. I do read plenty on here, but I can’t read everything. Life gets in the way. I go for headlines that grab me and I read what I want.
Anyway, I thought this person had gone away — they hadn’t left a snarky comment for months. Then they recently turned up and left another disparaging remark on one of my stories. They felt compelled to tell me they’d clicked ‘in error’, that my article wasn’t very good, and that their stories are much ‘higher quality’ than mine.
OK. Not weird at all!
They were clearly mortified to have accidentally read my story and felt it was correct to tell me off for writing it. Anyway, I look forward to being boycotted by them and not hearing from them again!
This charming individual went on to tell me that ‘good writers read’, suggesting that I don’t read. I’d read and commented on one of their stories just two days earlier, so I felt this criticism was unjustified.
In the days running up to the exchange, I’d literally read about 30 Medium articles from different writers every day. I had a backlog of stories saved to my reading list and was getting through them all. That’s slowed down lately because I have other pressures on my time.
Anyway, I told this charmer that I’d also been reading research studies for my day job. It would be impossible to do my work for magazines if I didn’t read.
I’m not sure why I bother trying to defend myself to this moron, but I suppose I don’t like being accused of being a terrible writer or being unsupportive of others on Medium unless it’s actually true.
This person clearly knows nothing of my reading habits and appears to be full of self-importance. If someone’s aggrievement about me is actually true, bring it on and let’s talk!
I’ve never asked this person to read my stories. In fact, if they’re going to get stroppy about it, I’d really rather they didn’t.
They’ve been so prickly, so often, I’ve thought about blocking them so I don’t receive this shit in my comments. But you know… that would be petty. 🙂 And sometimes I am interested in what they have to say in their stories. Not all our exchanges have been horrible. I don’t want to shut down communications, but I would like to keep them pleasant.
So, I responded nicely, thanking them for reading — even though it was by accident. 🙂
Then in the last few days, I spotted they’d dropped into someone else’s comments to tell them off for using a word they didn’t agree with — a word that is widely used in mainstream media every day: woke. This person is truly a legend for complaining about the most ridiculous things.
I used to put it down to them being about 12 years old, self-absorbed, and ignorant, but more recently I’ve had reason to believe that they might be 13 years old and not quite as stupid as they come across.
So if you have someone drop into your comments to tell you off or insult you, don’t worry about it. Some people do this to us all. You are in good company. It’s probably part of their daily routine. Keep smiling, thank them for reading, and move on.
© Susie Kearley 2023. All Rights Reserved.
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