I write this article with mixed emotions and determination to get my point across in the most tactful way possible. I’m a Sagittarius so this will be a huge lift as my honesty has been called brutal by many. So here goes.
I feel duped, like I may have wasted time and effort worrying about building an audience on a platform that may or may not be for me.
I don’t know what I was thinking writing and posting here. My first post was late last year. When I gained followers, I took it as a sign that if I kept writing, and showing signs of improvement, that upward trend would continue and I’ll be honest, it did.
So, what does it mean when you are a Medium Partner with 138 followers, but a ZERO Read Ratio on literally 99.9% of your work? I am not sure. I guess one would blame their writing skills, but I’d advise they take a different approach. If you are only posting your work here on Medium, I’m advising you to broaden your horizons. Get a blog site where you can see your analytics.
I have my blog site to thank for seeing through the Medium smoke, my analytics look completely different there.
Last week, I wrote about how I would be posting here once a week because it’s wasted effort writing three articles a week, see new followers, but no feedback. I love writing and refuse to see it as a job versus my first love. I’ve been blogging on my own website for the past 7 years, so I knew piles of money wouldn’t fall from the sky every time I hit the “write” button, but I did expect better analytics on this platform.
I will not blame this platform but rather the audience it sometimes attracts.
I understand why Medium changed the way they pay their writers in hopes of attracting quality over quantity. It makes sense, if people are following you and hitting the applause button, one would think 30 seconds of their time to read a 2–3-minute article would be the smallest of asks but it clearly isn’t.
I don’t like stories I haven’t taken the time to read as this isn’t helping the writer, it only provides imaginary thinking which I hate. Being a realist is the most important thing I can be at 46 as life is fleeting.
I guess I should’ve given all of this deeper thought before thinking being published here was some big achievement. When I get new followers here, I assume (we all know the saying) they read my work. I also assumed the people clapping for my work, read it.
Imagine my surprise when I do the deep dive into my analytics and find my follower count holds no weight and people are clapping for a story they didn’t even read. I mean, if that’s how some folks do business, that is fine, but I’d rather have one authentic follower who reads my work versus thousands of followers who are doing nothing more than adding to a follower count which holds no meaning.
I appreciate my blog’s audience beyond measure, they hold me down, visit my Instagram and just vibe. This is exactly why I love writing and content creating. It brings all walks of life into my orbit and it’s always nice to see my readers on Instagram and email Inbox.
So, I guess, no, I know my own blog site is where most of my work will be posted, at least there, people are actually reading.
My advice to new Medium writers is to not equate follower count with actual audience interaction. The analytics and stats will show you the real story and if you love writing like I do, it can sting. It can sting a lot. It can make you question if you are a decent writer at all because every so-called hack you have read has turned out to be a pile of lies and someone else’s reality.
Can you have a prosperous writing career on the Medium platform? Yes, but my advice is to disregard any writer hack published before August 1, 2023. Those are the old rules from back when borderline content milling paid well. We are now in the days of authentic interaction and every single writer will see that in their analytics, so adjust your expectations and you won’t find yourself feeling like an idiot, like me.
Till we read again
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