Summary

The article categorizes Medium readers into six distinct groups based on their reading and engagement behaviors.

Abstract

The article "The 6 Kinds of Readers on Medium" identifies different types of readers that writers may encounter on the platform. These include "The Perchers," who are writers not registered on Medium and only engage to promote their own work; "The Clappers," who rapidly applaud articles for reciprocity without reading them; "The Copy-cat Highlighters," who mimic others' highlights without engaging with the content; "The Good Readers," who are genuine and provide meaningful feedback; "The Hunters," who quickly scan articles to encourage reciprocal visits; and "The Researchers," who land on articles via search engines, seeking specific information. The author emphasizes the importance of understanding these reader types to navigate the platform effectively.

Opinions

The author implies that "The Perchers" are disingenuous, as they are not registered Medium members and only engage with articles to promote their own work.
"The Clappers" are seen as insincere, as they are more interested in receiving claps in return than in the content itself.
"The Copy-cat Highlighters" are criticized for their lack of original engagement and for relying on the actions of others.
"The Good Readers" are portrayed as the ideal audience every writer should aim to attract, as they provide valuable feedback and genuinely engage with the content.
"The Hunters" are characterized as newbies who are focused on building their follower base, often at the expense of genuine engagement with content.
"The Researchers" are viewed as transient visitors who are not interested in platform-specific interactions like clapping or highlighting, as their primary goal is information gathering.
The article suggests that understanding these reader types can help writers strategize on how to engage with them and potentially convert them into more meaningful interactions.

The 6 Kinds of Readers on Medium

One of the readers in the lists is you or me

Photo by **Perfecto Capucine** on **Unsplash**

Writers on Medium need to know why readers behave differently in their articles. There is also a need to know the different kinds of readers that visit their stories.

When you come to a new place, the first thing to do is to observe how things are done in the place. When you observe the happenings around, it will give you ample knowledge of the situation and help you to know when and how to act in a given situation.

These are the lists of different kinds of readers on Medium.

The Perchers

These are groups of readers on Medium who are writers but they are not registered members on Medium. They do not have access to read articles so they perch around on different story link posts on Facebook groups.

They are the first to reply; “nice article, please read mine and clap”. They read the title on the Facebook page and commented according to the caption or borrow ideas from what other readers have commented about the links.

The perchers are never reliable. They don't follow, they don't clap and they don't respond to your articles. How can they? They are not paying members. They are on Medium to sell their articles only and never buy from other writers.

The Clappers

There is nothing wrong with this kind of reader. Any time you see claps on your story with zero reads and views, have it at the back of your mind that the clappers have visited your story.

These readers are in a haste. They only want to make an impact on your story because they know the favor will be returned to them.

The clappers don't care to know what you have written. They are not interested in the story. They just want to clap and pass on to another story.

The Copy-cat Highlighters

This group of readers’ behavior is similar to those of the clappers. They are in a haste too to look through the articles. They look out for already highlighted texts and highlight on top of them and move on.

They are not interested to read the articles. They are tired of reading. They depend on the previous readers who have visited the story before them to give them directions on what to highlight.

The Good Readers

These are the real readers. They are patient; they are genuine. This group of readers is not in a haste to leave a story. Their views, reads, and claps count.

They are the ones every writer hustle to have as followers on Medium. They give constructive feedback and criticize stories when it is necessary.

The 8 Types of Writers You Will Meet on Medium

“By their fruits, you shall know them”

medium.com

The Hunters

This is another group of readers on Medium. They are that group that visits your articles for some seconds just to make a mark and to indirectly solicit for your return visit in their own stories.

The hunters scan on the articles for some seconds without reading them and move to other stories. The newbies who are building followers form the majority of hunters and perchers on Medium.

The Researchers

This group of readers is brought on our ways by SEO and google. They are researchers who are seeking for one information or the other.

The search engine leads them to our articles according to the searching keywords they queue into the system. These readers are not concerned with clapping or responding to articles. In fact, the majority of them may know nothing about clapping and highlighting.

They are information seekers. They are on the articles to feed their curiosities and then, leave.

https://readmedium.com/the-8-types-of-writers-you-will-meet-on-medium-d6eae0ba8b28

***

Now that we have known the category of readers we belong to on Medium, shall we move, or do we need a change?

Each one of us read something that fascinated us about Medium. One of those things is what made us join. We have come; we are seeing and we shall conquer.

You may also check out this.

If Medium Stats were to be a Human

It would raise one million petitions

medium.com