Are You Closing the Book Too Soon?
Increase Read Ratio of 30 Seconds — A Community Effort on Medium
# Small Habits, Big Impact: Supporting Fellow Writers on Medium

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Let's share a moment—spend 30 seconds with my story.
Your authentic engagement is a treasure to me.
If it doesn't touch your heart, feel free to pass on the applause (Clapping).
It's the genuine connections and the spirit of true readership that I hold dear.So far, I have been seeing lots of stories on Medium writers complaining about the poor read ratio of their stories, which is lowering their revenue as writers on the platform through the Medium Partner Program.

The read ratio (Read-through rate) is defined as the ratio of people who read your article for more than 30 seconds. Of course, the higher the “Read-through rate adjustment”, the higher your payout will become — The ideal scenario would be that your article is intriguing enough to capture most of the audience’s attention for more than 30 seconds.
However, this can be quite challenging sometimes to create such an engaging article every time you write something, because
- No one is perfect from Day 1. We are all continuously learning how to write better through the journey with Medium — At the start, we may not be that perfect to create a masterpiece article that keeps most of the reader engaged for the entire story.
- Different people have different interests. While the title may have attracted the reader, they may quickly lose interest if the content is not really what they were looking for or entertaining enough.
- Readers usually don’t want to spend their precious time if there is no value added to their life by reading a full story — Even if it’s just 30 seconds.
Creating Small Habits to Support Fellow Writers
As an individual who believes in Karma, I have created a small and simple habit that would likely benefit fellow writers ever since I started my Medium journey as a writer.
The habit is as simple as this:
- When reading other writers’ articles, try to open the article in another tab. You can right-click on the article to see the options below.

Every time I have a list of items I would like to read from the author or publication, I would simply use this open link in other tabs. I would normally open 5 or 10 tabs at the same time so that the clock will start ticking while I am still reading other articles.
My Personal Experience
By the time I finish all articles and close all tabs, all stories would have gotten a minimum of 30 seconds read already since I normally open more than 10 stories at a time. Even if I find it boring later, or lose interest in between, the stories would have already gotten 30 seconds read from me, not just a view.
Of course, I won’t clap highlight, or comment on such dull stories but I believe that I am at least not harming the writer by remaining on the page for a full 30 seconds.
I sincerely hope this habit of opening articles in separate tabs to ensure a minimum read time of 30 seconds is not only a practice I continue but one that can be built on by other readers and writers as well — By doing so, we collectively contribute to a culture of support and encouragement, making our platform a richer, more engaging place for everyone.
Wrapping It Up
In conclusion, starting this small habit of keeping tabs open for at least 30 seconds to help other Medium writers has shown me how easy it is to support others. This effort might seem small, but it makes a big difference for writers trying to get noticed and earn more on the platform — It’s all about helping each other out.
By doing something as simple as giving a bit of our time to let their stories be read for a little longer, we’re making the writing world a better place. It’s a reminder that helping out doesn’t have to be big or grand; sometimes, the smallest actions can boost others in ways we might not even realize. Let’s keep this spirit of support going, making the writing community stronger and more connected.
Let’s keep this in mind,
“What goes around comes around”
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Follower Booster Hub Publication — Your Secret to Medium Success
- Join the Great Medium Community of “Authentic Engagement” & “Constructive Feedback” with this link.






