One Clap and Other Rude and Ridiculous Things Readers Do
We need a cone of shame for the rudest readers
I like to imagine people wearing a cone of shame while they use the internet. Not all people, mind you. Just the rude and entitled ones. Like the guy who snarked one of my stories.
I’d posted a new piece. Then some dude challenged me on what “I might not have considered.” He actually said that. “I’m going to challenge you…”
lol. Okay.
Except, the “concern” he “challenged” me on was in the first paragraph. lol. First paragraph. Not even way down at the bottom. Nope. Right at the top. Man, that dude didn’t even need my help to look dumb. lol.
That guy needs a cone of shame.
I mean, cripes. If dogs and cats have to wear a cone so they don’t lick them-selves without thinking about why they shouldn’t, maybe people ought to do the same? Because that’s what that crap is. Self gratification.
When I asked if he actually read the post, he deleted his comment and blocked me. lol. Omg, how dare *I* challenge *him* publicly?!! lol. Well, Sayonara doodlebug. And take your attitude with you. Wait! You forgot your cone.
Who leaves a comment without reading the thing?
Him, apparently. And his brethren, because there’s no shortage of those folks. Apparently, forming opinions based on a title is a real thing on the internet. We can’t really be that dumb, can we?
Lest you get yourself in a knot, it’s not just men. Women are just as adept at the fine sport of jumping to conclusions and being an arse in public. It’s not gender specific. Just happened to be a guy that time.
We sure do love to give advice to creatives…
Go — look at the home page. One gets you ten there’s at least one story about how to “succeed” on Medium, whatever the heck that means. And if you go to FB, you’re sure to see ads about how to succeed with FB ads. Same on Insta and anywhere else you look. Like the internet is mostly made of meta.
We’re all just chock full of advice for writers and creators. Silly bunnies who don’t know how to do it right, write it better, make it more appealing. — How to write better — How to write faster — How to improve your titles — How to get more views — blah, blah, blah.
Where’s the advice on how to be a better reader?
Where’s the advice on how to be a better consumer of said content on the internet? Oh wait. I’m writing it as I speak. lol. Because trust me, thoughtless users are a big part of why creatives struggle. More on that in a bit…
User error and user ignorance aren’t the same
I deal with the fall-out of internet “users” all day. Marketing and design are my meat and potatoes. Writing is my side. I get to see how people use the internet all day, every day. Lucky me! lol.
Which explains the thick skin. You cannot spend all day, every day, up to your elbows in the crazy that is the internet without developing thick skin.
User error is accidental
One of my clients ran a promo. Enter the code SAVE20 to get 20% off. Some customer said the coupon didn’t work. Turns out he entered SAVE@)
Makes perfect sense. Caps lock. Sir, look above the 2 and the 0. lol. When the answer is “lol, oops!” that’s user error. Use the shift, not the caps lock.
When you make a typo on your own name or address or a coupon, that’s user error. When you click something because the cat jumped in your lap, or forget to release the caps lock, that’s user error. You know what error means, right? It means oops. If you’re good humored, it means oops, lol.
I like people who can laugh at themselves.
Ignorance is not an error, it’s a choice.
Yes, we’re going to get to reading and writing and the dumb things readers do. But first, there’s a point to be made.
Same client, different promo. $5 shipping on $25. Poor customer service staff. Answering the phone all day to people yelling the coupon didn’t work. They didn’t get $5 shipping. So mad. SO mad! And every time. Every. Time. They look and sure enough — the order is under $25.
Read, people. Ffs.
User error and user ignorance are not the same. And by ignorance, I mean the dictionary definition. As in, having no freaking clue what’s going on. That is not an accident. That is not oops, lol. That’s a choice.
Writers do some of this themselves.
A lot of sites that used to pay for submissions don’t anymore. Know why? Because writers didn’t bother to read the guidelines and submit stuff that’s not even on topic. Or too long. Or too short. Or formatted wrong.
It happens here, too. People go on FB and whine that wah, wah, Medium took away curation. No, they didn’t. It’s just called distribution now. They whine that they aren’t getting curated/distributed, but they haven’t even read the guidelines and don’t realize they’ve butchered them to hell and back.
That is not user error. It’s ignorance. To remain ignorant is a choice.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. You can put the text there, but you can’t make people read it. That is not an accident. It’s a choice.
One clap and other rude and ridiculous things readers do…
In case you didn’t know, writers are the minority here. If the grapevine is to be believed, less than a third of the members here are writers. Personally, I’d guess it to be lower. Maybe a quarter. The people who write once a month aren’t in the same boat as the people writing multiple times a week.
When even writers have no clue, you think readers do?
Nope. They pay their five bucks and call it done. All you can eat word buffet for 5 bucks a month.
If Medium ever goes the way of the dinosaur or Open Salon, they’ll call it Medium’s fault. Shrug. Move on.
They don’t stop to think that sites live and breathe on the strength of their customers. Without customers, you have a hobby, not a business. In this case, the readers make or break the site. Whether they write or not.
So here’s some dumb things readers do because they don’t think about it…
1. Clapping once is kind of an insult…
Middle of 2017. That’s when Medium changed from single likes to 50 claps. Three and a half years ago. If you’ve never read the user guide, Medium sees clapping as a “quality signal.” The more claps a story receives, the more likely Medium will feature the story in other readers’ feeds. Yay, exposure. lol.
Remember in school when teacher gave you 2% on the essay you slaved over? No? She didn’t give anyone that low a mark? So why do you? I mean, the math isn’t hard. Double the number in your head. That’s the score you’re giving someone’s writing.
Know what one clap is for? To acknowledge a lame comment, maybe. When you clap once, it’s like telling Medium um, yeah, don’t promote this one. It’s kind of an insult to the writer. You get a pass if you’re new and didn’t know.
2. If you’re reading on a device, please get the app!
Writers get paid for internal reads by paying members. Not external reads. But guess what? If you’re reading on an android and not using the app, your read is listed as external. Sucks for writers not to get paid. Good writing is hard work. Support your favorite writers. Get the app!
3. Don’t be an abusive jerk… should I need to say that?
Did you know 64% of women and 11% of men experience harassment because of their writing? That should not happen at all, nevermind at the frequency with which it does. The internet is an all you can eat buffet. Eat what you want. If you don’t like it, don’t eat it. If you want to disagree, do it politely. If you can’t be polite, be silent instead. If you tend to be on the rude side, go read the post below. It’s sobering.
4. If you didn’t read the post, don’t leave a comment
Remember back when people would post “first!” in the comments at forums and everyone else assumed they were 13? lol. Look, if you’re going to leave a comment without bothering to read the posts, at least say so. Be honest.
“Well, I didn’t read the post, but based on the title…” said no one, ever. If you know it would sound stupid, why do it? Trust me, even if a post takes you a whole 7 minutes to read, the writer spend way longer writing it. Shooting your mouth off without reading is a waste of pixels. Don’t waste pixels.
5. Last but not least — don’t forget to follow!
Medium has been vocal about trying to build a “relationship based” model. That means when you show up at Medium, the goal is for you to see more of the work/writing of people you follow. It also means following is ultimately what will makes or break a writer. If you like someone’s work, don’t just clap. Follow. Following is how we push good writers to the top of the pile.
Fellow writers, did I miss anything?
Maybe you have a pet peeve I missed. Something readers do that drives you up the wall? Please share in the comments.
It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you’ll be when you can’t help it. — Oscar Wilde