You Shouldn’t Talk about Follow-tics at the Medium Table
It finally happened, I wrote something that received predominantly negative feedback.

Rightfully so, it’s a controversial topic. It’s not the first time I wrote about it. It was the subject of this story
And this one,
In both of these stories I talk about my struggle of putting myself out there by following other writers. But yesterday when I published this one,
It was a very different reaction, almost visceral from some people I have just become Medium acquaintances with and have respect for.
My initial headline was “One Simple Way to Gain 2000 Followers: Steal This” It got a 96 score on Headline analyzer and I got excited. I changed it after receiving the negative feedback but the damage was done.
I received feedback from writers I respect each at differing levels of their Medium journey. Each successful in their own right.
One told me they were finished reading my material. That stung, I have a lot of respect for this person and will continue to enjoy what they write. There isn’t much I can do about that after the fact, I accept the consequences of my actions.
Valuable Lesson learned
This has taught me a valuable lesson about my time here on Medium. For starters it’s a great reminder our reputations takes a lifetime to build and an instant to destroy. It also taught me there are subjects on here people hold strong beliefs about.
Just like Thanksgiving dinner, it’s best to avoid certain topics because you risk alienating your readers.
It’s a good lesson learned. I will lick my wounds and heal. My ego needs a reality check every once in a while.
Struggle with seeing the downside
I still have a hard time understanding the down side of following other writers. Most of you reading this know who I am because I followed you, read something you wrote and I commented on it or vice versa. I can think of two very popular accounts with 30k-40k followers who are both following almost double that amount. Each one engages with their readers authentically. I have a hard time seeing the down side.
The number of accounts we are following and the number who are following us have very little impact on our success. The most important metrics are reads, comments, and email subscriptions.
Final lesson and takeaways
The lesson learned from this experience is simple don’t talk about it.
I am going to take a break from following and focus on a few other areas of engagement. As I mentioned in a previous stories I am following 6000 people. That’s enough for now.