MEDIUM — MY WAY

Reading And Commenting Are More Important Than Ever!

Sharing my ‘system’ of reading and commenting, and my thoughts about interaction and reciprocation. Come on, spread the love!

I have been meaning to write this post for a long time. In places it might come over as a rant, but my sole intention is to share my way of doing Medium, and make others aware of how important interaction is.

Especially with the latest changes in Medium, which started on 1 August 2023, and where earnings will be calculated differently from before.

I almost burned myself out

When I started on Medium in February 2021, I wanted to do this thing right.

I come from the blogging world, where many supported each other by reading and commenting on posts. We earned nothing from that, but monitored our stats. I am proud to say that back then, my blog, Rebel’s Notes, was one of the main ones, and I believe this was because I fully interacted with other bloggers.

Still in the blogging habit, I wanted to read everything written by everyone I followed. But, I also wanted to write and share my work.

I felt overwhelmed.

I overwhelmed myself.

The thought crossed my mind whether it was such a good idea to start on Medium. It took some months to understand I needed to find a system for myself, otherwise I would burn myself out. I didn’t want that to happen, especially not with something that’s supposed to be fun… supposed to be a hobby.

A way that worked for me

I do all my planning in Excel, keeping track of different stats in there, such as the type of post (fiction, memoir, mental health, fictionalized stories, etc.). Also on which publication it appeared. I keep track of my daily stats and my earnings.

When things overwhelmed me, I added a new tab in my Excel file to keep track of interactions.

Interaction is reciprocal action. Reciprocal means to give, feel, or do something in return.

By then I had subscribed to everyone I followed, so received an email every time they posted something new. At the time, I followed about 150 people. Can you understand why I felt overwhelmed? I just couldn’t get through my mails!

So, in that new tab, I created four columns — name, placed, received, remarks. The first was for the name of the person I followed. The second (placed) was for when I posted a comment on one of their pieces, and the third for when I received a comment from them on one of my pieces.

I decided keeping a margin of two. In other words, the number of articles I have commented on would never be a maximum of two higher than the number of comments received from that person. Whether I leave one or five comments on an article, it counted as one, as it’s only one article. Of course, the same applied for comments received.

Once I had commented on two of their pieces, and received none on mine, I unsubscribed to receiving an email when they posted. In the remarks column on my Excel file I made a comment: Unsubscribed — read when receive comment.

Sometimes I read people who I don’t follow because the title of their article caught my eye on the main page of Medium. Then I add a comment in my file: Not following — read when receive comment.

And sometimes people read me, but they have no stories of their own, so I add that to the remarks column: No stories.

Exceptions to the above

I run a publication — Serial Stories — and I am editor on two other publications, Tantalizing Tales and Teaser Tales.

Back when I was a blogger, I ran a meme called Wicked Wednesday. Every week, I gave a non-compulsory prompt as inspiration, and people linked their posts to that week’s prompt. I read every linked post. I believed (and still do) when you run/host something, you support those who support you. My dream to make a success of Wicked Wednesday came out because I built a community around the meme.

I apply the same to my publication — I read and comment on everything posted on there, regardless of authors reading or commenting on my work. Of course, I would love for them to comment on my articles too, but that’s not a requirement for them to be hosted on Serial Stories.

Even though I don’t own the other two publications, I have committed to be an editor, so read and comment on everything published there.

Only comments, not highlights and claps

Have you noticed I am constantly talking about reading and comments and have said nothing about highlights and claps?

I know highlights and claps count as interaction too, but when I decided on my system above, I had to make choices. Since it’s far too easy for someone to ‘clap and run’, I decided to only reciprocate when someone left me a comment. That way I still had time to write my own articles and share, but also to live my life, which is otherwise filled with work and caring for my husband, and caring for myself by journaling or taking my camera and spending a day at the zoo.

And you know what? Since Medium now only registers engagement if you have been on someone’s page for at least 30 seconds, leaving a comment means you stay there long enough for it to count.

Your comment doesn’t have to be long winded but can simply say: I enjoyed reading this or Nice story or Thank you for sharing. Just something simple shows you care.

Our time is valuable, and just like money, you can spend it only once. My time is not more valuable than yours, and vice versa. Therefore, I am sticking to my system: read and comment on one of mine, and I will do the same for you.

Following new people

I mentioned how I sometimes follow a link from Medium’s main page to read something of someone I don’t follow.

When I get mails from Medium telling me who my new followers are, I click on each of their profiles. When their short bio interests me, I follow them back, subscribe to receive emails when they publish and bookmark one of their posts to read. (I always read from my reading list, and might not reciprocate the same day, but I always reciprocate.)

And of course, once I read something from someone I have newly followed, I enter them in my Excel file. Then, I follow my personal maximum of 2 rule, and unsubscribe to emails if they don’t reciprocate.

Why am I sharing all of this?

It’s not only that it became more important with the new way Medium calculates our earnings. It’s also because interaction and reciprocation help to build a community.

Isn’t that what Medium is about? Community building?

Why else would you write and share your stuff?

We write and share because we want to be read, right? But is it right to only receive and never give back?

I don’t think so. That’s just not how I roll.

I have a handful of people — and the list is growing — of whom I read and comment on absolutely everything they write and they do the same for me. I followed two of them — May More 💜 Tales and Posy Churchgate - Writes & Edits Fiction from the blogging world to Medium, and we never looked back.

Then there’s Yana Bostongirl who I started reading because she mentioned my country of birth, South Africa. I discovered Nevena Pascaleva through the Medium main page and she’s just the best storyteller! Then there’s Prasanna Srinath Subhasinghe, and it’s especially his writings about his daily life and Buddha which pull me in every time! And just recently, I started reading Debdutta Pal and she also frequently reads my stuff.

Last but not least

Whenever I read a story, I almost always highlight the first paragraph, depending on its length.

Why?

Because I tweet every story I’ve read — unless someone has no Twitter handle. I schedule them ahead, four (sometimes three) hours apart, as to not flood my timeline (some days I read 20 stories, other days none, but always between 200 and 250 per month).

I love Medium, and I plan to stay here for a long time, but then it has to feel like I spend my time meaningfully, or otherwise it will lose its luster for me.

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