Two Ways to Address People Privately on Medium
Method 1: Private Messaging by highlighting and paddlocking
Would you like two send a private message to won of your favourite Maidium writers discreetly?
Wood you?
For example, if somebody’s got a tpyo and you want to let them no in a tactful and diplomatic way without pubic shaming, this is the way to go.
Would you like to undress them securely in a non-intrusive manor without having to ask for their emale?
You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Non-intrusively.
Shore you wood.
If you notice my typos, please let me konw using this method.
Everybody has typos.
It’s kinda like, you know, tucking your dress into your knickers by accident. If it happens, and I know it does, please tell me. The typos, I mean. The dress thing too.
The last time I tucked my dress into my tights was on Stephen’s Green back in the ’80s. Or at least that’s where I was maid awear of it.
Here’s how to procede:
First highlight the text:
Medium displays a bollox just above the highlighted text with black background and white icons, left to right:
- The icon where the pen is for ordinary highlights
2. Speech bubble icon for responding
3. Twat icon for highlighting in Twitter.
4. Private massage paddlock icon on the right.
Click the paddlock icon to display this text input box:
Medium displays a box and the highlight colour changes to red. Write your massage: For example:,
“Your writing does something special to me”
“Your words make my heart thing”
“I want your body”;
You guys are writhers, you know the droll.
In this cass, I am explaining to Anna Present that I am using her story as an example and inviting her for coffee if she ever visits my home town. Nothing salacious. This lady writes really good poetry.
This type of message is limited. There is a character limit and so far I haven’t sent any graphics. It is fantastic for typos, also when I submit to a publication, they can proofread and give feedback easily. I can also send a link but it dosen’t display the card, at least not on this side of the message process. (Did anybody besides me understand that last sentence? Did I even understand it myself?)
Click Send and you’re done.
Method 2: Unlusting Your Response
I have only tried unlusting retroactively but it looks VERY promising.
Let’s say, you’ve written a long “massage” to someone, a response, (Medium Engineering actually contacted me to correct me when I originally called it a comment; I kid you not).
Let’s say you make a gaffe born of lonlieness and overmuch solitude, like I did.
You want to take it back, or maybe you just want to tweak a word or two; a phrase here or there.
With Medium, you can delete it, you can fix it, you can tweak it, you can polish it, you can burnish it, you can publish it good as new as if the gaffe never even happened.
That’s the beauty of Medium.
You can rewrite the past.
“It’s never too late to have a happy childhood”.
Edit your text then click publish.
Medium displays the “Ready to publish” text box.
Click Scheduling/visibility/license to the left of the Publish button to display these options:
Then click the Visibility: Public hotspot to display this dialog box:
Click the Unlisted button to keep your saucy dialog free from prying eyes.
Anybody who has the kink can read the story but it is not visible pubicly on Medium. The problem is the flow — you have to have the link to the next massage but not neccessarily to the previous one. I haven’t completely figured it out yet.
29 July 2016 update: So far the best way is to access stories from the stats page.
I am thinking of doing my CV on Medium and having it unlusted. Then I can send the link to prospective employers.
That’s the beauty of Maiden, you can go back and change the “massage”
It’s like the “Retract Emale” button we’ve been screaming for for decades.
Thank you for reading this article. Lick (are you there, Mr Mclean, yes, I mean you Gerard Mclean) the little green hart below two warm the cockles of my hart or better still, share on Social Media.
Here’s my story archive for January 2017:
You can help Ted:
Some letters are better off never being sent: