Summary

The article discusses the importance of constructive engagement over complaining on Medium, emphasizing the value of offering solutions, understanding the platform, and focusing on creating meaningful content.

Abstract

The author of the article reflects on the tendency of Medium users to complain about the platform without offering practical solutions. They highlight that most users lack a deep understanding of how Medium operates and often blame the system for their lack of engagement or success. The piece suggests that users should focus on self-improvement, storytelling, and contributing positively to the community rather than fixating on metrics like claps and reads. It also points out that Medium is actively working to improve the user experience through initiatives like the Boost program and that users should channel their energy into creating genuine stories and content. The author encourages writers to seek inspiration and to be a force for good, leaving a positive impact with their work.

Opinions

Complaining about Medium without offering solutions is unproductive.
Users should be self-aware and realistic about their expectations on the platform.
Francisco Iglesias' idea about customizable tagging and mentions is an example of a user offering a constructive solution.
Medium's team is dedicated to enhancing the platform, and user feedback is taken seriously.
Writing about Medium itself is not as valuable as creating original stories or content.
Users are encouraged to start their own publications or build websites to share their work and gain a following.
The author believes in the power of positive energy and the impact of meaningful interactions and stories shared on the platform.
The article suggests that personal growth and a focus on creating impactful content are more important than platform-specific complaints.

On Complaining, Expectations, and the Energy We Put Into the World

Good vibes only

nobody can hear you. artwork courtesy of author

We all love to complain about Medium, but very few people offer any real solutions to any problems.

It’s because we don’t have them.

Most of us don’t know how the system works. We just want to complain and bitch and moan that we don’t get enough claps or reads.

Instead of looking in the mirror, we want to blame others or blame the system. Here on a writing platform, we string a few clever sentences together, make a pithy comment, or write something that’s only meaningful to us, then we wonder why the accolades don’t flood our inbox.

We are small fish in a small pond.

Maybe you don’t get enough claps or reads because your stories are not great. Or because you haven’t put in the work yet. Or maybe your expectations are a bit inflated when you’re new to a platform. Why not keep putting in the work, and then see where you are in a few months? Self-awareness is a virtue.

Maybe it’s not the rest of the world, maybe it’s you. Maybe it’s the energy you’re putting out there.

A new connection Francisco Iglesias has some interesting thoughts about how tagging and mentions should work on Medium. He was tagging a ton of people, and it got to be too much for some, me included. Melissa Gray correctly pointed out that I was being a jerk, and I apologized. Regardless, Francisco had a suggestion that users should have the ability to tailor who can mention them and how. It’s interesting, anyway. A change like this may or may not be feasible, but at least he’s offering a solution.

Awareness of what you don’t know is just as important as what you do know. Maybe more so. In this case, none of us really know how Medium works. We have no idea how many people are working diligently to make the user experience better.

My friend Andrew Rodwin of the humor pub Muddyum knows how some things work from a technical standpoint. He is in the middle of a fascinating new series about how web apps like Medium work. You can find it over at his new pub Brain Labs.

Outside of the technical stuff, Medium has a small army of people dedicated to making the user experience better. They are investing a ton of time and energy into the Boost program. They’re getting input directly from editors and publication owners from all across the platform and taking it to heart. They are listening. They are human beings taking your suggestions and hearing you. Like everything, there’s always more than meets the eye.

Not knowing how complex the system truly is, we want to play armchair quarterback and whine about where the buttons are or why we have to scroll so much on our phones.

I understand that you need to make your voice heard to drive change. But does screaming into the void to get a few clicks accomplish anything?

Not to mention the fact that if you’re writing about the Medium user experience, you’re not writing — you’re writing about Medium.

News Flash: Writing about a platform all the time isn’t writing. This is “content.” Content is just filler that can be written by ChatGPT.

In addition, articles about Medium cannot be boosted. Just FYI.

Instead of writing about the platform, you need to be writing stories. As in, REAL stories. Things that happened to you and how you feel about them. The memories you hold closest to your heart. Tell us stories about telling your kids where babies come from or what happens when we die. Take us with you on a journey. Give me a hilarious piece about how you tripped and literally fell out of your shoes on that trip to Switzerland, Terry O. I’ll read that stuff all day, every day.

Or, if you’re into fiction and want to complain that your fiction isn’t getting enough reads, open your own pub. Build a website. Write your stories and gain a following. Keep creating.

Nobody is stopping you except you and your expectations.

On a podcast recently, I was asked about a stranger who had an impact on my life. It was such an interesting question because strangers don’t often have an impact on your life. Most of them come and go like extras in a movie and you never see them again.

I told the story of the first homeless man I ever met. I was about 10 years old walking with my grandfather, and we came across a homeless man. He asked for money, and my grandfather ignored him and kept walking. I didn’t understand why, and he never tried to give me a reason. I ran away from my grandfather to try and help the man, but he didn’t want my help.

I thought about that poor man for days. It made me realize how much bad stuff is out there, and that small changes can help make the world a better place. It got me thinking about how I want to have the energy I put out into the world be a positive energy.

It got me thinking about how my particles interact with your particles. About how quantum entanglement can carry a message across time and space. About how a genuine smile can be felt over thousands of miles and can carry on long after it’s ended.

It got me thinking about the grand scheme of things and how so little of this matters. About how we’re screaming for attention instead of checking in with ourselves and finding all we need is right there.

It got me thinking about the stories and the conversations I put out into the world, and how I’d rather be a force for good. I would rather inspire someone to create something unique and beautiful than complain about something that simply doesn’t matter very much.

The infamous “Physicist Eulogy” fits the bill to end this. Aaron Freeman recorded it on NPR years ago, but it’s one of the most important things I’ve ever read.

He talks about the first law of thermodynamics, the conservation of energy, and how our energy cannot be created or destroyed.

“You want a physicist to speak at your funeral. You want the physicist to talk to your grieving family about the conservation of energy, so they will understand that your energy has not died.

…all the photons that ever bounced off your face, all the particles whose paths were interrupted by your smile, by the touch of your hair, hundreds of trillions of particles, have raced off like children, their ways forever changed by you. — Source

If my particles can be of any use to anyone, I’d prefer they be the good ones. I hope a few of them find you out there in the universe and make you smile.