Writers Are Leaving in Droves
Is it earnings, boredom, or because they feel ignored?
Every time I check through my following list, I find people who’ve stopped writing and appear to have abandoned Medium. I guess they never felt a sense of community, and their earnings didn’t meet their expectations.
It’s not really surprising. Trying to get started is hard. Trying to earn a decent amount on here is harder still. Anyone looking for a way to make a quick buck is going to be sorely disappointed. So, a lot of people feel demoralised and leave. But that’s why we need to keep growing our following as writers and keep making new contacts.
People come, and people go. It’s important to keep growing on Medium because people are leaving every day.
It’s also important to engage with the people who do connect with us in our comments, so that they feel valued and included in the community. A week ago, I shared information in someone’s comments because the author explicitly asked readers for their experiences. I was genuinely interested in what the writer thought, so I checked back today to see if I’d missed her response. Nope. My comment has been ignored.
The community here is great, but don’t be a shit and ignore people when they respond to things that you’ve actually asked them for. This, and the lack of reads, is precisely why some people feel demoralised by the platform.
On that topic, however, I did notice recently that some messages aren’t showing up on my notifications feed. So, it’s a good idea to check your responses feed too — you might catch some responses that you haven’t seen. Some people probably aren’t ignoring their comments deliberately!
I’ve almost missed a few comments on my own stories, so I check both feeds every day now.
The Medium community thrives on engagement. Some people are huge proponents of reciprocal reading, and I think there are limits to that, because, in my view, everyone should read what they’re interested in — not just to be reciprocal.
But I also think that ideally, writers should respond to people who drop into their comments with a thoughtful remark, especially if you’ve asked them to because that’s just the polite and decent thing to do.
When you’re a huge writer on the platform and can’t keep up, that’s fair enough, but if you’re relatively small like me, it’s nice to acknowledge feedback and engage with readers. It helps our community thrive and grow!
So, as the winter sets in, will more people will stick about for the long haul? Possibly not if they’re only in it for the money. But if we make them feel welcome, they might find the community addictive. I do!
And from an earnings perspective, you’re less likely to earn well if you don’t put the effort in to engage with others and acknowledge readers — at least until you’re established anyway.
Am I wrong?
© Susie Kearley 2022. All Rights Reserved.
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