MEDIUM

Medium! I Don’t Care How Many Times You Put that Story in my Feed — I’m Not Going to Read It!

And you can’t make me

I log onto Medium every day — many times — and whenever I do Medium presents me with a little group of posts the Algorithm has selected for me to read. This feature is called More from Medium.

Occasionally there’s a story there I actually want to read and might not have seen otherwise.

Thank you, Medium.

But just as often Medium will suggest a story that I have zero interest in reading. So I ignore it. I go about my Medium business. I write. I read. I comment. I clap.

And then I leave the platform. But when I return an hour — or hours — later? That story Medium wants me to read is still there.

It’s like when Mom used to say “You can’t have dessert until you eat your peas, Roz.”

Mom was in charge and knew what was best for me, so eventually I did eat the peas. (Well, actually, I slipped them to the dog, who was lurking under the table hoping to be fed when Mom wasn’t looking. But you get the picture.)

Medium Isn’t the Boss of Me

But now I’m all grown up and Medium isn’t the boss of me. Which means? Medium can’t make me read a story.

You’d think that after suggesting that I read that story every time I return here for the rest of the day, Medium would realize that I’m NEVER GONNA READ THAT STORY and swap it out for a story that I might actually read.

But no. Every damn time I log on, that same story is sitting there.

And the next day? That story is waiting for me when I log on in the morning.

This week, it’s a story about women crying in cars. I have no doubt that it’s a terrific story and that there are plenty of Medium readers who would like to read it. But I’m not one of them. I don’t cry in my car. I don’t even own a car. Which Medium should know since I recently wrote about that.

And yet? The woman-crying-in-cars story has been there every time I’ve hit the platform for the past three days. It’s there right now. And it’ll probably be there when I log on tomorrow.

For all I know, it’ll be there every time I log onto Medium for the rest of my life.

And there’s nothing I can do to make it go away. Not even reading it. Because another thing I’ve noticed is how often Medium puts stories in my feed that I’ve already read and then keeps them there for days.

Is Medium Forcing My Work Down Your Throat?

Of course, this makes me wonder how often my own stories turn up in the feeds of readers who don’t want to read them. I’ve been on the platform since February 2019 and have posted 688 stories. I can only imagine how many of them have been foisted upon readers who, for instance, don’t give a hoot about how I feel about dick pics.

Or about what happened when I discovered that the man I’d loved and trusted for two decades had had a secret girlfriend for 10 years.

Not everybody wants to read my work. And that’s okay. (And if you happen to be the writer of that women-crying-in-their-cars story? I’m sorry it’s not for me. But if my experience is any indication, Medium is serving it to tons of readers, many of whom who will love it. So I’m hoping you’ll forgive me for not wanting to go there.)

What’s the Point, Roz?

The purpose of this post is twofold.

First, I’d like to ask Medium to please stop putting the same damn post in my feed over and over, once it becomes clear that I’m not going to read it. Put something there by Lon Shapiro or Jan M Flynn instead. I’ll probably read that. (Are you listening, Tony Stubblebine?)

And even more important? Dear Reader — if Medium keeps dumping my work into your feed and you don’t actually want to read my work? I apologize.

But I’d also like to gather data. So if Medium has repeatedly served you a story by me that you didn’t want to read? Please let me know in the Comments section. And if Medium has stalked you for days with an unwanted story by somebody else? Tell me about that too.

I’m not saying we can fix this. After all, this is Medium. The glitches here tend to stick around until they’re eventually replaced with even better glitches. But I always like to know what’s happening with my fellow writers. What’s the most I’m-never-gonna-read-that-story Medium has posted in your feed? Tell us all about it.

The more we learn about how this platform works — or fails to work — the better off we’ll all be.

Writing Coach and editor-for-hire Roz Warren, who writes for everyone from the Funny Times to the New York Times, can help you improve and publish your work. Drop her a line at [email protected]. (That’s Ros with an “s,” not a “z.”)