Medium Should Be More Like MySpace
You don’t need the algorithm to follow your favorite writers
I am searching for a way to make Medium more like MySpace — yes, I’m serious.
How much did Tom pay you to say that? ¹
For Gen Z and younger millennials, MySpace was an early 2000s clunky social network of libertarian anything-goes design. Need some hokey scrolling graphics at the top of your page? Boom! Do you want an 8-bit version of the Beverly Hills Cop theme song playing while your page loads? Voila. Add some popups before they were fly? Done! It was a gold rush of discovering the worst possible web design.
The best thing about MySpace is that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Mastodon did not yet exist.
The worst thing about MySpace — other than the registered sex offenders — was everything else.
Everything EXCEPT
Top Friends
MySpace let you select your eight top friends and pin them to the top of your page. What was magical about this idea is that no matter what your hundreds ² of MySpace friends posted, everything your top eight did was prominent. You never missed something important from your top eight.
Why I want Medium to adopt this idea
What if you could select a small group of Favorite Writers, and EVERYTHING they write shows up in your feed?
Imagine being able to tell the algorithm my intentions matter more than my behavior. I may fall for a clickbait story title, but these are the people whose words I want to influence me.
Email is not the answer
But Mark, don’t we have this option in email lists? You can subscribe to receive an email from any writer you choose. While this is technically true, ask yourself why you should have to leave the ecosystem to find the stories you want to read.
It’s the software equivalent of requiring Amazon shoppers to walk into a Barnes and Noble store and find the print copy of a book before being allowed to purchase that same book online — on Amazon. Sounds ridiculous? It should.
When I’m on Medium, I want to read intriguing stories. When I’m not on Medium, I want to be left alone and not distracted by spam — even spam of my choosing. Does anyone on this dying molten rock believe that the solution to life’s problems is more bloomin’ emails?
A temporary solution
Until Favorite Writers is a tangible feature in the Medium app, then there may be another option. I discovered a temporary workaround while writing my usual satirical nonsense.
In the story, I joke about selfishly tagging my thirty-eight favorite writers for my benefit. However, after publishing this rubbish, I found myself returning to the list and asking, “Who do I admire but have not read lately?” For the first time in my year on Medium, I can see my favorite writers simultaneously. Is it possible that my shenanigans are helpful for a change?
Think long and hard about who your favorite writers are. Who causes your heart to beat harder, your brain to boost, or your funny bone to be tickled — in an uncreepy way? Write a story and tag them all in a single obnoxious tag storm. ³
Publish the story, and pin it to the top of your profile. You now have a handy list of writers you are committed to reading.
Is it a perfect solution? No, but it is the least annoying one I have now.
Takeaway
How difficult would it be to add a Favorite Writers feature? I’m not a software developer, but if Tom could figure this out with 2005 technology, so can Medium.
Footnotes
¹Tom from MySpace will always be my friend.
² twenty-seven
³ I am NOT advocating a regular practice of tagging hundreds of writers. Unless you have a newsletter, gained the author’s permission, or simply like being detestable, giant tag blocks are like diarrhea dropping in the pool.
Enjoy this truth is funnier than fiction story from Tai Le Grice.
Or this non-cocaine-related bear story from Selina Miyasia
New to Medium? Want to read stories by authors with immensely more talent than Mark Suroviec, M.Ed.? Join Medium here, and I will friend you on MySpace.