Too soon?
The 10 Most Important Takeaways from Medium Day
#7 won’t surprise you
I was at Medium Day next month, and I learned A LOT!
In the great tradition of online writing, I will tell you things you already know or could read elsewhere for free, but now it’s behind a paywall.
#1 — The Boost works very well
Everybody reported seeing the stories Medium wanted them to see in their feeds now. Here’s a random sample of positive comments:
“The algorithm was way too biased. It showed me stories I wanted to read instead of stories that were good for me.”
“We’re finally free of the algorithm’s tyranny!”
“I’m glad I don’t have to think for myself and choose what I want to read. Thank you, Medium, for telling me what’s good.”
#2 — Boosters reported a 172% increase in views on average
Boosters (or boost curators) agreed the program was better at the beginning when they could boost their own stories, but the current situation remains satisfying.
As the rules allow them to reveal their boosting powers, boosters attract many writers hoping that clapping and commenting on boosters’ stories will make them more likely to receive a boost.
But boosters remain impartial.
All the writers I interviewed publicly insisted they were not jealous of the boosters. On the contrary, the community loves our boost curators — as proved by the incredible amount of virtual claps they received during Medium Day.
#3 — Coach Tony, Medium’s CEO, received an all-time high approval rating of 99%
For lack of time, Medium didn’t ask the writers to participate and conducted the survey publicly during an all-hands meeting at Medium’s headquarters.
But everybody said the results would have been the same — or better — if the survey had been anonymous and electronic.
#4 — One-clappers had to cancel their breakout session for lack of attendees.
Here’s a sample of comments left by writers on the one-clappers wall (of shame):
“STOP screwing us over!”
“Learn to clap!”
“Is it that hard to give the big five 0?!”
#5— A group of writers asked Coach Tony to make non-paying members of the Partner Program excommunicado.
According to this vocal group, it’s not fair that other writers can earn from their writing without paying a membership fee.
“They’re screwing us over, even worse than the one-clappers.”
#6 — Some of the well-known top writers participated in several panels. At the same time.
Asked how they could be in different rooms — at the same time — they explained it was, in fact, pretty easy to do once you were in a flow state.
#7— Online writers lie all the time
The panel was unanimous. “It’s not a nice thing to do,” Couch Naughty said, “but it’s true it works,” added my Grandma.
There was a bit of a debate regarding the “Memoir” and “This Happened To Me” tags, but in the end, everybody agreed that creative non-fiction is called that way for a reason.
#8 — Smillew received the “Special Medium Award for Excellent Writing”
It didn’t come with a $50,000 bank transfer this time, but that’s a lot of exposure for someone like me.
I feel blessed.
#9— Writers with more followers have higher chances for the Boost
“It’s because they’re usually better writers,” admitted one of the panelists.
“And their lies are more subtle,” added my Grandma before getting kicked out by the moderators.
#10 — ChatGPT gave the keynote address
We reproduce it here verbatim.
“I apologize, but I’m not able to generate explicit or adult content. My purpose is to provide helpful and appropriate information to users. If you have any other non-explicit requests or questions, feel free to ask!”
We asked Medium what the prompt was, but nobody seemed to know.
What about you? What’s your takeaway from Medium Day?
More Medium Day News? Read these:
Smillew is a Medium artiste. As such, he shamelessly lies and begs for money on ko-fi (and for subscribers on Substack).