MEDIUM TIPS

Three Types of Medium Accounts I Will Never Follow

These three things are doing you more harm than good

I’ll never follow more than 50 accounts on Medium.

You might be thinking, “Well, Josh, that’s because you’re an asshole.”

You might be correct, but hear me out before you judge me.

Like most of you, my time for reading and writing is limited. I carve out an hour a day if I’m lucky. I split that time evenly between reading other writers (plus engaging) and writing.

I try to read stories that appear in the publications and writers’ accounts I follow. There is no way I’ll ever keep up with more than 50.

I follow you or your publication because I want to read what you publish or because you engage and seem like a good person.

If you're a schmuck, I’m not following you on Medium — Benjamin Franklin ( I think)

When I decide to follow someone, I check three things: how many accounts you follow, the latest few articles you’ve posted, and your bio.

That’s it.

While it takes a few minutes to decide if I will follow an account, three things will make me click away faster than Donald Trump taking credit for something he didn’t do.

1. You start an article telling me to stay for 30 seconds

You might have a great article, but I’ll never know because when I see that — I’m gone.

Keep me there by writing something interesting. If you add the 30 beg, do you really want me to sit there not reading your story so you can get credit for a read?

I don’t.

I want to know whether what I’m writing holds the reader. How will I get better if you skew the stats by sticking around? I’ll keep on pumping out things that don’t work.

It reeks of desperation.

2. You’re part of the follow-for-follow club

Someone please explain this to me.

You follow me, knowing you won’t read my writing. I follow you, knowing I won’t read your writing. Yet somehow, we’re “supporting” each other?

That makes my brain short-circuit.

If you follow thousands of accounts, can you even read 1% of them?

If I follow you, it’s because I actually want to read your writing. I would trade 100 followers for one person who reads and engages with my stories.

3. You post every day

This one is gonna hurt some feelings.

I’ll admit that some rare humans can post daily and always seem to have something to say. They are the exception.

I’m not talking to them.

You shouldn’t post every day for the sake of posting. Medium isn’t Twitter. Just like you can’t out-exercise a poor diet, you won’t win Medium by pumping out craptastic posts each day.

It’s also likely to lead you to burnout.

To all the follow-for-followers out there, let’s break up this dysfunctional relationship and start reading each other’s stories for real.

Who knows, we might actually enjoy it.

And to those who post every day on Medium, take a break. Your keyboard needs a rest, and so do we.

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