Summary

The author is grappling with Medium's terminology, specifically the use of "topics" and "stories" instead of "tags" and "articles," and seeks input from readers on their preferences.

Abstract

The article titled "Make Your Voice Heard: Tags, Topics, Stories, or Articles — Speak Up Now!" reflects the author's confusion and mild irritation with Medium's choice of words for its platform features. The author, who has been writing on Medium for some time, is accustomed to using "tags" and "articles" but finds that Medium consistently uses "topics" and "stories." This discrepancy has led to a mental conflict, prompting the author to question the platform's language choices. The article includes screenshots showing the prevalent use of "topics" and "stories" across various Medium interfaces, from search results to the writer's own dashboard. The author admits to feeling a sense of betrayal to the traditional terms and seeks validation from the Medium community on whether to adopt Medium's terminology or continue using the more commonly accepted "tags" and "articles." The piece concludes with an invitation for readers to share their thoughts in the comments and a call to subscribe to the author's newsletter for more insights.

Opinions

The author experiences a dilemma over Medium's use of "topics" and "stories" instead of the more familiar "tags" and "articles."
There is a sense of frustration and humor in the author's realization that Medium's language does not align with their own or the broader writing community's.
The author feels that "topics" and "stories" are not widely used terms among writers and readers, based on personal experience.
Despite the platform's consistent use of "stories," the author harbors a lingering loyalty to the word "article."
The author dismisses the use of "blog" and is ambivalent about using "post," preferring clarity over potential confusion.
A plea is made for community engagement to determine a consensus on the preferred terminology.
The

Make Your Voice Heard: Tags, Topics, Stories, or Articles — Speak Up Now!

It’s continuously bothering my brain cells.

My dilemma is with two Medium words: “topics” and “stories”.

Anyone who has been writing on Medium for any length of time knows these two key components of the platform. They are tags versus topics and stories versus articles. I’m not saying they’re in competition by any means. In fact, they are in competition. They compete in my head, and I want it to stop. 😭

I was minding my own business and I realized I was saying something different from what Medium calls it. I was writing a story and my eyes slowly turned to the ‘write a story’ icon, and my head started to twitch. “Wait, why does Medium use story (and stories) instead of article (and articles)?”

That’s when my mind realized Medium was saying “topics” and “stories”, and it went downhill from there. 😅

My writing world stopped turning, and I realized this should not be a day in my life.

Medium uses “topics” and “stories” everywhere I see.

In the search results…

In the edit story “…” drop-down menu

In the main “…” drop-down menu

When you write or import a story…

Your stories section…

So my head is really bothered. I don’t see many people saying “topics” or “stories”. They say “tags” and “articles” or “posts”. What should I do? I’ve been using the word “story” since my revelatory moment, but it doesn’t feel right. Yet, that is what the platform calls it. I feel like I am betraying the word “article”. Don’t think about throwing the word “blog” in there. What about “post”’? 🤯

Yeah, I saw your blog today, and ….

Your post yesterday was …

The only time I know of someone saying “topics” is when they say, “Go to the topics section.”. I’ve never heard anyone say, “Go to the tags section.”. I’m sure they do, but I’ve never heard it.

I want to know what you call it.

So which one is it? Do you say “tags” or “topics”? Do you say “story” or “article”?

What do you think? What do you call it?

Let me know in the comments. I’m curious to see what the consensus is.

Until we meet again, Keep Living!

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