Why I Quit Medium
(And Why I Started Again)
I’ve enjoyed writing for years but for a long time finding a place to publish was a challenge for me. I say that I started using Medium this April, but the truth is that I began on Medium in November of 2019. But I didn’t last for very long.
I wish I could say I had a variety of reasons for quitting, and that it was a carefully thought-out decision. But the truth is, it came down to one simple reason for me.
It wasn’t addictive enough.
I don’t think I realized this at the time though. It wasn’t until I gave Medium a second chance this year that I realized how important those first few days on an app can be. Whether Facebook, Instagram, or anything else, these apps need to give us a reason to return. If that notification bell hadn’t begun lighting up for me in those first few days on each, maybe I would have stopped coming back for more.
The first article I posted in 2019 went out into the void. Perhaps I had lofty visions of just how far that first piece might take me — but for no one at all to comment or even read it was discouraging enough to stop me in my tracks. I took a pandemic-length hiatus before returning again to the platform.
This time, I had a little more luck. I wanted to find a place to publish this piece I’d spent the last couple of months working on.
After I posted the article, a surprising thing happened.
I received a couple of notifications.
Someone had read my article and enjoyed it so much that they actually wanted to post it in their publication! I was elated. I felt inspired enough to begin publishing chapter by chapter the story I’d hardly been able to get a single friend of mine to read. I’d spent over a year on it, so to finally publish it was a liberating feeling. Even though the engagement wasn’t a lot at first, those first few claps and comments were enough.
It’s only been a few months, but it’s tough to say where I’d be without that first comment. I’d like to think that I would have had enough resolve to continue even if my articles were only going out into that same void. But the void is a sad place to reside. I had thought that my work deserved at least a little better. I’m incredibly thankful to have found a community that finally agrees.
So if there’s a moral to this post, I guess it’s just to support the writers who are new to Medium. Even writers who aren’t good yet deserve their recognition. It’s a difficult career path. It’s strange to say, but these little dopamine rushes can actually have truly positive impacts on each other’s lives. Your clap or comment could be what inspires someone to keep writing. It could be what inspires them to keep introducing their creations into the world — knowing full well that each might just end up in the void alongside so many others. Your support can make a colossal difference.
Help support me by — I promise that segway wasn’t intentional… signing up for Medium here! By signing up through this link, you’ll be giving me a direct commission as well as getting access to the work of thousands of other writers. Thank you so much for reading!
