Yesterday, I Blocked Two Medium ‘Friends’ — And I’ll Do It Again (If the Opportunity Presents Itself)
An honest view of one of the salient issues here no one is talking about…
Yesterday, I had no option but to block two Medium writers I otherwise love; and no, they weren’t spinning AI gibberish nor were their comments generated automatically (as far as I could tell).
It was for a more grievous ‘offense’: these otherwise fine folks were hurting my read ratios and clearly, had no intention of stopping.
I had to stop them before things got out of hand.
Before you click away and mutter that I’m one crazy old fellow with an equally crazy way of doing things, allow me to explain — with a story, and then, you’ll see the logic in letting those two fellows go…
…without regret — and why I’ll do it again if the opportunity presents itself.
A (Semi-recent) Hospital Admission and a Life Lesson
Semi recently, I was an inpatient at a local hospital for a medical challenge that had popped up and was more than what outpatient care could successfully handle.
The hospital staff were nice, the wards were clean and everyone was professional… nothing was missing that I could reasonably point to.
However, I didn’t like the doctors coming through the door of my private ward to ‘do their rounds’ — and I only tolerated them because I had no option but to, if I were to get better (fast).
When I heard approaching footsteps outside my ward room, I always hoped that it was a family member or friend — not a doctor, nurse, or hospital staff.
And, this was for a singular reason:
Family and friends genuinely cared, spent quality time with me and were interested in making me feel better; the doctors, on the other hand, seemed distant and appeared to be primarily inspired by a paycheck (and not my wellbeing)…
Relationships Here Can Easily Read like Impatient Doctors and Their Patients
Medium is built on the values of reciprocity — and value: writers make money (and feel good) when their works are read (by other users of the platform).
It’s as easy and as straightforward as that.
To encourage others to read one’s work, you first read others and leave an awesomely well-thought-out comment that lets them know you’ve seen what they have to offer — and appreciate them.
And, maybe, highlight to show direct resonance and clap (like your favorite star just finished performing).
Almost all the time, that is all that is necessary to get a reader and subscriber — for life.
When this happens, it brings about with it the freshness of mind one receives when one talks heart-to-heart with friends or family…the comment section truly comes alive!
Unfortunately, some actors here have chosen the way of the absent-minded (and impatient) doctor doing their ward rounds, answering patients with what is in their mind (or pulled out of thin air) and glancing at their watches frequently, wondering when the hour will tick and they’ll clock out.
When this happens on Medium, read ratios are hurt…
Unfortunately, such ‘friends’ usually receive the full benefit of reading, commenting, time, and importantly, dedication from the folks they deceive into thinking they’re playing fair (and interacting with their work).
This isn’t anything close to being fair (by any standard).
The Two Medium Writers I Blocked Yesterday…
It’s not a coincidence that the two Medium users I blocked yesterday are both advocates of ‘growth hacking’ and are friends, between themselves.
For these folks, nothing matters except the growth of their accounts/paycheck and any means to achieve that is acceptable — even if it hurts another or isn’t generally fair.
This, in my little world, is unacceptable.
Four Little Tips to Catch These Super Selfish Writers in Their Tracks
A little mistake here and there is permissible (who doesn’t make them?)
However, running months in, and months out in a super selfish pattern (like the two users I blocked yesterday) leaves no room for excuse.
If you’re interested in catching those ‘hybrid’ folks in their tracks, here are some tips that became painfully obvious, looking back:
- Such accounts are always interested in ‘growth’, its ‘hacking’, and are focused (and heavily invested in Medium earnings), usually, directly. Their profiles hardly feature anything else.
- The comments those folks make are only just two lines, unfailingly, and all the time — irrespective of subject matter. They need to cover ground quickly, it appears, and have a ‘target’ or ‘quota’ they must meet for the day but are aware that everyone now detests ‘one-liners.’ For them, you aren’t a writer worth reading, and your thoughts don’t matter: it's all a game to them and you, a good, easy means to their selfish ends.
- Both accounts have NEVER contributed to a publication before I blocked them. It appears, from my deduction, that a pub only serves to ‘waste’ their time.
- Reading the comments of these accounts on my stories, it was painfully obvious that my stories were only scanned and the comments left, semi-generically. The style is usually to pick out what stands out (like a quote), highlight the same, and leave two mindless lines — the type of responses you get when you’re talking to someone who also happens to be passionately scrolling away on TikTok at the same time.
Take Away
It’s easy to see that AI is becoming a nuisance here on Medium.
It’s also easy to see (and detest) those who specialize in clapping and running — with the ulterior motive that you locate them and read what they’re offering.
However, what is difficult to see and accept are the ulterior motives of the writers we know and connect with; the less-than-honorable acts of those we read, and those ‘friends’ who pretend to (also) read our work.
While it isn’t always easy spotting this kind of behavior, once detected, allowing such ‘friends’ go — and protecting your read ratios is the logical thing to do…if your friendship were important to them in the first place, they wouldn’t behave in such a manner as they do.
So, why hesitate?
Now, the billion-dollar question: are you genuinely engaging with your friends (on Medium) or simply ‘doing your rounds’ to hit your ‘daily target/quota’ and using the good community here as an easy means to your end?
Thank you for reading.
If, what you have on your hands isn’t the manner of folks as described here but plain, old, well-known AI ‘writing’ folks, here’s why you should consider mercilessly blocking them: