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Abstract

how many people don’t read anything but your title. You’ll get angry half-baked comments that don’t relate to the body of your article. Reading comprehension is a lost art.The contents of these articles also share opinions outside of popular views. This’ll grab people’s attention, and hopefully stimulate a conversation. But, this won’t always be positive engagement. The nature of virality is that it’s a combination of good and bad. Rarely will highly-viewed stories with lots of claps and comments have a 100% approval rating.The success a publication will give to you is less about audience size and more about audience fit.Frankly, if you employ the method of sharing unpopular opinions and brave titles, you're going to attract a substantial crowd that disagrees with you. It’s the point.Just to be clear, I’m not encouraging hate speech, misinformation or bullying.<h2 id="3c5d">2. Don’t have a singular niche</h2>Max out at 3 or 4. This is a double-edged sword. I don’t write in a single niche. However, I only write in a handful. Trying to write in a single niche makes us run out of ideas quickly. Let’s be honest, there’s only so much you can say about one thing on a regular basis. Opening up your niche pool increases the potential of content you can write.Keeping your niche pool small helps audiences recognize you in multiple spaces. You’ll appear more credible. Audiences come to know and recognize certain names in certain areas. I work as a UX Designer and write about it regularly, thus UX-related articles do well for me. People trust my opinions in this field. This is why my article about not becoming a UX Designer was particularly eye-catching. It was odd coming from me.My second most viewed article on my profile is about dating. A topic I hardly write in, and frankly am no expert in. The key player in this article’s success was the publication I wrote in.<h2 id="2cc1">3. Choose your publications wisely: It’s not about the size, it’s about the fit.</h2>Virality doesn’t necessarily come from the size of a publication. None of the articles I’ve written in <a href="https://medium.com/swlh">Start It Up</a> (previously The Start-Up, 750k followers), Medium’s largest publication, have gone viral. I’m not a regular in the p

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ublication or the topics they cater to mostly. I’m not a side-hustle expert.Notice that the views on my articles aren’t exuberantly different, but the sizes of the publications they were written in are. They were written in <a href="https://uxplanet.org/">UX Planet</a> with 305k followers and <a href="https://medium.com/the-virago">The Virago</a> with 7k followers.I attribute the success of this article to the engagement of the publication's audience. The Virago’s publication has highly engaged readers focused on women telling their stories. It stood out because it addressed men, but it focused on a woman’s perspective on the matter.The success a publication will give to you is less about audience size and more about audience fit.<h2 id="d670">What virality is like, and why it shouldn't be your goal</h2>For many, writing on this website is the pursuit of virality and money. I still fall victim to constantly checking my statistics. I’ve gotten better at checking comments; that’s a wormhole I don’t want to be in, but they’re hard to ignore.At first, it feels odd. If you’ve ever experienced a lot of attention online, the inundation of comments and views feels weird. It’s a lot more attention than you’ve ever gotten in real life and frankly doesn’t feel real. Once you log off, it doesn’t exist. It’s not tangible.Then, you earn some money and it becomes tangible. Suddenly, it feels great. Earning extra money on Medium is one of the most rewarding places to earn. Articles don’t take that long to write. Each takes maybe an hour or an hour and a half. So anything over $20, feels phenomenal.Then, it dies down and you read the comments. This isn’t something I’d recommend doing often. They can be filled with meaningful discussion but they can also be filled with mindless, baseless insults that no one really needs.Your purpose of writing on this site shouldn’t be virality or money. Medium adheres very strictly to the 80/20 rule. Meaning 80% of the things you write and post won’t have 10s of thousands of reads, and will likely earn pocket change.That’s why you ought to write because you just enjoy doing it. Write for what you get out of it now, and not what you may get out of it later. You have to do it for the love of the game.</article></body>

Three Things You Need To Do To Create A Viral Medium Story

#3 Size doesn’t matter… it’s about how it fits.

The Receipts

Let’s start with the proof. These types of articles are nothing without hard evidence and numbers. I’m not an expert on what constitutes “viral” on Medium, but here’s my version of virality.

The stories: Why You Shouldn't Become A UX Designer

Men, This Is Why Women Won’t Date You

Cumulatively these pieces have generated over 50k views and earned about $1100.

These aren’t the only high-earning stories I’ve written, but they are the most viewed. When it comes to virality timing, luck and publications make a significant difference. However, there are commonalities amongst my highest-earning stories that I’ll share.

1. Be Unafraid of Unpopular Opinions and Polarizing Titles

The standout feature of these articles is their titles. The article about UX Design goes against most popular discourse surrounding UX; which is centred around how to get a UX job. The other is polarizing because it’s specifically calling out and addressing an entire group of people.

This can be scary. Upon writing your first viral article you’ll realize how many people don’t read anything but your title. You’ll get angry half-baked comments that don’t relate to the body of your article. Reading comprehension is a lost art.

The contents of these articles also share opinions outside of popular views. This’ll grab people’s attention, and hopefully stimulate a conversation. But, this won’t always be positive engagement. The nature of virality is that it’s a combination of good and bad. Rarely will highly-viewed stories with lots of claps and comments have a 100% approval rating.

The success a publication will give to you is less about audience size and more about audience fit.

Frankly, if you employ the method of sharing unpopular opinions and brave titles, you're going to attract a substantial crowd that disagrees with you. It’s the point.

Just to be clear, I’m not encouraging hate speech, misinformation or bullying.

2. Don’t have a singular niche

Max out at 3 or 4. This is a double-edged sword. I don’t write in a single niche. However, I only write in a handful. Trying to write in a single niche makes us run out of ideas quickly. Let’s be honest, there’s only so much you can say about one thing on a regular basis. Opening up your niche pool increases the potential of content you can write.

Keeping your niche pool small helps audiences recognize you in multiple spaces. You’ll appear more credible. Audiences come to know and recognize certain names in certain areas. I work as a UX Designer and write about it regularly, thus UX-related articles do well for me. People trust my opinions in this field. This is why my article about not becoming a UX Designer was particularly eye-catching. It was odd coming from me.

My second most viewed article on my profile is about dating. A topic I hardly write in, and frankly am no expert in. The key player in this article’s success was the publication I wrote in.

3. Choose your publications wisely: It’s not about the size, it’s about the fit.

Virality doesn’t necessarily come from the size of a publication. None of the articles I’ve written in Start It Up (previously The Start-Up, 750k followers), Medium’s largest publication, have gone viral. I’m not a regular in the publication or the topics they cater to mostly. I’m not a side-hustle expert.

Notice that the views on my articles aren’t exuberantly different, but the sizes of the publications they were written in are. They were written in UX Planet with 305k followers and The Virago with 7k followers.

I attribute the success of this article to the engagement of the publication's audience. The Virago’s publication has highly engaged readers focused on women telling their stories. It stood out because it addressed men, but it focused on a woman’s perspective on the matter.

The success a publication will give to you is less about audience size and more about audience fit.

What virality is like, and why it shouldn't be your goal

For many, writing on this website is the pursuit of virality and money. I still fall victim to constantly checking my statistics. I’ve gotten better at checking comments; that’s a wormhole I don’t want to be in, but they’re hard to ignore.

At first, it feels odd. If you’ve ever experienced a lot of attention online, the inundation of comments and views feels weird. It’s a lot more attention than you’ve ever gotten in real life and frankly doesn’t feel real. Once you log off, it doesn’t exist. It’s not tangible.

Then, you earn some money and it becomes tangible. Suddenly, it feels great. Earning extra money on Medium is one of the most rewarding places to earn. Articles don’t take that long to write. Each takes maybe an hour or an hour and a half. So anything over $20, feels phenomenal.

Then, it dies down and you read the comments. This isn’t something I’d recommend doing often. They can be filled with meaningful discussion but they can also be filled with mindless, baseless insults that no one really needs.

Your purpose of writing on this site shouldn’t be virality or money. Medium adheres very strictly to the 80/20 rule. Meaning 80% of the things you write and post won’t have 10s of thousands of reads, and will likely earn pocket change.

That’s why you ought to write because you just enjoy doing it. Write for what you get out of it now, and not what you may get out of it later. You have to do it for the love of the game.