avatarBurk

Summary

The article argues that achieving "Top Writer" status on Medium is an overrated and easily attainable accolade that does not necessarily translate to increased views or success.

Abstract

The author of the article expresses skepticism about the significance of the "Top Writer" status on Medium. Despite having the status in their bio, the author conducted an experiment to demonstrate that becoming a top writer in various tags, such as Creativity, Future, Advice, and Ideas, is straightforward and can be achieved with a few articles, even if they do not perform exceptionally well in terms of views. The author's experience suggests that obtaining this status does not lead to a noticeable increase in readership or success, indicating that the "Top Writer" title is more of a vanity metric than a measure of writing impact or quality.

Opinions

  • The "Top Writer" status on Medium is perceived as prestigious, yet it is not a reliable indicator of a writer's success or the quality of their work.
  • The author believes that the process of gaining "Top Writer" status is relatively easy, requiring only a handful of articles in a specific tag.
  • The experiment conducted by the author revealed that achieving "Top Writer" status does not guarantee more views or engagement with the content.
  • The article suggests that the "Top Writer" status is primarily a "nice bragging term" and is largely overrated in the Medium community.
  • The author implies that readers and the Medium algorithm may prioritize content differently, and the "Top Writer" status might not align with what truly resonates with the audience.

It’s Easy to Become a Top Writer, And It’s Overrated

Gold vector created by pch.vector — www.freepik.com

People are big on the top writer status. You see the top writer status in every bio. Including mine, ironically.

I wish the top writer status meant something.

But it doesn’t. It’s easy to get and doesn’t lead to any results afterward. To prove that, I did an experiment. Over the last 3+ weeks, I’ve tried to gain top writer status in tags I haven’t previously written in.

These were Creativity, Future, Advice, and Ideas.

Within 3–4 articles per tag (or combining multiple of these 4 in one post), I’ve gained top writer status on all of them. None of those stories were viral hits. Some didn’t even cross 100 views in the first week.

And then, nothing happened.

Top writer status hasn’t led to more views or success.

It’s a nice bragging term, but it’s overrated.

Read more:

Medium
Writing
Reading
Advice
Creativity
Recommended from ReadMedium