MEDIUM | READ RATIO | READING | REWARDS | HUMOR
Which of the Two Read Ratios Is Relevant to Rewards?
That’s right, there are two distinct read ratios
This question has been bugging me ever since I read Medium Product Manager Buster Benson’s extensive piece — shared at the end — about the August changes.
I liked that he provided details and was quite comprehensive. But he left some important parts unexplained.
Above all which of the two Read Ratios (RR) he meant with his “Read Ratio Adjustment”. He wrote if you have a 70% or higher RR you get an (unspecified) bonus.
And for an RR of <70% you get a penalty. Since RR Adjustment acts as a multiplier — see image below — I guestimate it’s in the 10–15% range. Maybe 20% tops.
I borrow this image from Buster’s piece for the 99.95% of you who’ll not read it. Btw, it’s a .webp image I had to convert to .png since Medium does not support uploading .webp images despite converting them all to .webp — sorry if that detonated your brain.
I suspect this isn’t too environmentally friendly.
The relevant wording of Buster’s piece is this:
Read ratio adjustment: The % of people who read your story for 30 seconds or more on the given day will adjust the value of all the points earned either up or down.
People means everyone, both members and non (paying) members. The general RR at the top of each story stats, shown far more prominently, also mentions people as you can see in the header image and in your stats.
Here is the second RR of the same story:
As you saw at the header that story did not reach the 70% threshold in general RR. But it surpassed it in Member RR. A common occurrence.
So did I get an RR adjustment bonus or penalty? I have no clue, but based on Buster’s wording that story should be, like many others, in penalty territory.
It is natural for the general RR to be always lower than the Member RR. Non members see a short preview and take off far more frequently than members in <30"
I do the same with paywalled pieces elsewhere. Why would I stay longer if I cannot read more than a few paragraphs and don’t wish to subscribe?
But that would mean preview reads by non members for the very first time materially affect rewards.
It would mean RR Adjustment is kept artificially low. Reaching 70+% in general RR is far harder, particularly if Google takes a shine to your story.
I asked Buster to clarify which RR he meant both in his piece via a comment (on Aug 25) and on TwitterX via a tag. I got no response, hence this piece.
Better than a ticket, surely. So, until we have an official confirmation it’s anyone’s guess which of the two RRs is used for RR adjustment.
Let me know in the comments what you think.
Which of the two RRs do you think is used for RR adjustment? And do you see markedly lower general RRs than member RRs in your stories?
Thanks for reading. 🙏🏽
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Buster Benson’s piece:
Another gripe I have with Medium:
