Medium is Swamped With Fake Accounts

Summary

The Medium platform is experiencing a significant influx of fake and bot accounts, leading to increased spam and frustration among content creators who feel Medium is not adequately addressing the issue.

Abstract

The article expresses concern over the prevalence of fake and bot accounts on Medium, suggesting that they may outnumber real users. The author highlights the problem by sharing a personal experience with a spam comment from a "Dr Okpoko" offering dubious services. Despite reporting the account, the author questions the effectiveness of Medium's current measures to combat spam, noting the continued presence of such accounts and the burden placed on content creators to report them. The author calls for a more proactive approach from Medium, including a purge of these accounts and better preventative measures to maintain the integrity of the platform.

Opinions

The author believes that the current number of fake accounts on Medium is excessive and problematic.
There is frustration over the lack of effective filters to prevent spam comments from appearing on the platform.
The author is skeptical about Medium's commitment to addressing the issue, given the ongoing nature of the problem.
Content creators are seen as bearing the brunt of the issue, having to report spam accounts themselves.
The author suggests that Medium should take responsibility for the situation by implementing a system to better manage and prevent the creation of fake accounts.
There is a sense of urgency for Medium to improve its handling of fake accounts to enhance the user experience for both creators and readers.

Are they going to do anything about it?

It seems at this stage that there is more fake/bot accounts on Medium than there is real ones, which is a sad state of affairs, if true. It’s frustrating to see so many of these accounts being created on a daily basis, with seemingly no action being taken by Medium.

Only yesterday, I saw a comment from “Dr Okpoko” on one of my stories. He was so kind to inform me that he could safely help me increase the size of my penis, and to contact him on WhatsApp to make an order. Thank you, Doctor, for considering me, but I think I’ll pass on this occasion — you almost had me at safely!

Jokes aside, trash comments, such as this, should never see the light of day on this platform. There should be some kind of filter to stop spam, right? I reported the comment, and Mister Okpoko is no longer with us — I’m sure the good Doctor is upset by the lost revenue for his product.

So many questions come to mind, like how many accounts were spammed with this crap? How many people reported it? Would this spam account still be live if it wasn’t for us content creators reporting it?

It's worrying that huge numbers of these fake ass accounts slip through the cracks on a daily basis, and it seems like it’s up to the content creators to do Medium’s job by reporting them.

Where is the proactive approach by Medium? This has been going on for months. I’m not seeing any improvement, if anything, it seems like it is getting worse. It’s not the first time some spam account has commented on one of my stories, and you can be damn sure it won’t be the last — the return of “Dr Okpako” anyone?

Medium, do you think that you could do a purge of these accounts, and figure out some better way of stopping them wreaking havoc on the platform? Seriously, it’s super annoying, having to see this crap on a daily basis, and I’m sure many other creators feel like I do.

If you are thinking about signing up to Medium, please consider using my link below, I will receive a percentage of the subscription you pay. It won’t all go to Medium!

Medium is Swamped With Fake Accounts

Are they going to do anything about it?

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