Why I Eventually Had to Block That One Famous Medium Writer

A good article should be more than a catchy title and a breezy formula

Every new writer will discover the work of That One Famous Medium Writer on or before day three of their Medium journey.

It’s inevitable. He’s got a huge following and the algorithm loves him. Sooner or later, you’re going to have an article by That One Famous Medium Writer shoved down your digital throat.

He’s the Taylor Swift of Medium.

The truth is that there’s nothing offensive about That One Famous Medium Writer’s work. He writes attention worthy titles, keeps his paragraphs down to a line or two, and there’s an implied smirk that overhangs everything he has to say.

His articles are breezy and they contain information.

There are also words. Lots of words.

About a year ago I read an article That One Famous Medium Writer wrote about Cryptocurrency. He made the point that sometimes you’d buy it when it’s high, sometimes you buy it when it’s low.

Well, that’s true.

But so what?

At the time, I thought, “Yeah, that is a good way to think about Cryptocurrency.” But what new knowledge did I gain from the article? All he essentially had done was take standard financial planning advice and applied it to Cryptocurrency.

When you stop and think about it, you have to wonder if that’s smart.

To make matters worse, I think he’s now written that same article fifty or a hundred times.

The only difference is that sometimes it’s published on Start It Up, sometimes it’s published on Better Marketing, sometimes it’s published on Curious. He’s That One Famous Medium Writer, his work gets automatic approval.

It doesn’t matter that he says the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over…

I think the main problem with That One Famous Medium Writer is that he’s like a brighter than average person you might bump into on an elevator. He’s capable of sounding like he knows a lot, he’s charismatic, he’s inoffensive, and listening to him is better than just standing in an elevator and doing nothing.

He’s like elevator music!

Except…

I don’t get the impression that That One Famous Medium Writer is really an expert in any field. Instead, he’s a guy who has maybe read an article or two on a lot of subjects and can express himself better than the average person.

But is there ever anything new?

Is there every anything original?

Does he write about anything important… you know, the type of topics that might offend somebody?

Oh, he wouldn’t dare do that, he wouldn’t want to lose a follower! Then he’d be reduced to One Follower Less Than That One Famous Medium Writer.

When you’ve read one article by That One Famous Medium Writer, you’ve read them all. It gets to the point where you accidentally click on his work and you can tell in the first paragraph that you did something you didn’t mean to.

“Wait a minute, is this an article by That One Famous Medium Writer… dang, it is! How did I end up here?”

At first you just try to avoid his articles. If you see his name, you don’t click on the title no matter how interesting it might sound. By this time you’ve figured out that no matter how interesting the title sounds, the article itself will disappoint you.

All his article splay out like this:

Interesting title. Semi-snarky subtitle (you know, subtle sarcasm that approaches the appearance of being “edgy”). Short little clever sentences. Something that kind of seems like an original insight, but is really just a picture of toes. A few more jokes. Self-deprecating humor (to demonstrate how humble he is). Cutting sarcasm (to show he wasn’t serious about the self-deprecating humor). A smile. A wink. A laugh all the way to the bank.

That One Famous Medium Writer is good at titles. I’ll say that without qualification. Perhaps you could say he’s great at titles.

But they aren’t poetic titles.

These are the kind of irritating, internet titles that essentially coerce people into clicking on them.

This isn’t writing.

This is getting people to incessantly click on your work.

This isn’t being “influential.”

This is figuring out that every time a person clicks, you earn a penny.

It’s sort of like the internet equivalent of getting rats addicted to heroin and making them work a simple machine so they can get a reward at the end of the day.

I get enough of that treatment in real life, I don’t need it here too.

At first, I tried to avoid him and simply not click on his work. The trouble is, he’s got so many followers that the algorithm resurfaces his name again and again and again. When you scroll through the feed on your app, it keeps recycling his articles until you eventually do click on one.

It becomes a contest of wills.

“I won’t!”

“Yes, you will!”

“No, I won’t!”

“Yes, you will!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“NO!”

“YES!”

“Okay fine! I’ll do it!”

click

“ARRAGGGHHTHTAHAHAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH! Why? WHY? I KNEW it was going to be like this and I CLICKED ON IT ANYWAY!”

“Shake it off… here’s another.”

Blocking him wasn’t my objective.

He never did anything that I found offensive.

In the end, his inoffensiveness is what offended me. That and the fact that his presence steals the spotlight from better authors doing important work that actually does matter.

He’s as bland as yellow cheese and he’s everywhere. It’s a sad commentary that his is the work many new writers aspire to emulate.

I started to realize that every time I saw the name of That One Famous Medium Writer I was missing out on the voices of writers I truly respect. For some reason, I couldn’t train the algorithm to show me the work of Alison Acheson, Allison Gaines, Johnny Silvercloud, or Marley K.

Instead, I found that these authors would publish something and I’d miss it unless I periodically went directly to their profiles. Eventually, I had to sign up for all their email alerts. Even with all that, the app kept recycling titles by That One Famous Medium Writer.

So, finally, I blocked him.

Now, I am free to discover writers who actually have something interesting and important to say.

Sorry That One Famous Medium Writer. It just didn’t work out between us. Please don’t compose a whole album of breakup songs about me.

Thanks for reading! Remember, you’ll never find my work on the app because I don’t have the clout of That One Famous Medium Writer, but you can be assured of reading my latest work if you become one of my email subscribers! I appreciate all of you!