The Feed
After five years on Medium, I’m still frustrated with my Medium feed. You see, there are writers I really want to read. That is why I have followed them. But their articles do not show up on my feed. If I want to read these writers, I have to hunt them down. When I find their work, I see they have written 20 or more articles since I last read them — and none of these articles showed up on my feed.
Before I made the above assertion, I “got some facts.” I inspected my feed closely. It seems that about 70% of my articles come from writers I have chosen to follow. The other 30% probably come from topics I seem to be reading about, but with unknown writers. We could argue that this is not a bad way to select articles for my feed.
I then adjusted my Medium feed. I switched from the tab “For You” to “Following.” The “lost” writers I like to follow still did not show up.
For some reason, the Medium algorithms have chosen certain of my follows over my other follows. This means my feed misses these less favored writers; with “less favored” being defined by the algorithms, not by me.
The MPP (Medium Partner Program)
I joined Medium in 2019. I did not sign on to MPP because I could not envision possible revenues compensating for my wasted time checking out my stats.
Then, in Fall 2021, I had a new marketing plan. I would write one article a day.
I also thought maybe not being part of MPP was a factor in me not becoming popular, so I signed on. And yes, I started wasting time checking out my stats, an addiction which has continued to this day.
The 2021 marketing plan was fun for me. I had seven articles on the drawing board at anytime. Each day, I would make revisions to all the articles on the board. I would publish the article I started seven days ago. Then I would write the first draft of the next article. Probably 2–3 hours a day.
But my traction did not improve in this 54-day run. I was getting an average of $1.50 per article at the start and $1.50 at the end. Publishing every day did not boost my “per article” exposure. It was not financially feasible to continue. So I went back to a handful of articles a month, just to keep my ulterior motive in the Medium headlines and my creative juices running.
Stats Profile
From this 2021 marketing run to the fall of 2023, my article stats profile looked like this:
1) Just a little bit on Day 1
2) Much better traction on Day 2, 3, 4, & 5
3) Smaller traction on Day 6
4) Gone stale on Day 7
Yes, there were a few articles that broke this profile. But 75% followed it reasonably well.
Last fall, something changed in the algorithms. Now my average stats profile looks like this:
1) Just a little bit on Day 1
2) Much better traction on Day 2
3) Similar or smaller traction on Day 3
4) Gone stale on Day 4. Day 5 for sure.
About 50% of my articles today follow this pattern. For sure, my exposure duration has been lessened.
There’s a counter-intuitive outcome of getting fewer days of exposure on the feeds. When this change happened, my average Medium revenue seems to have increased from $1.50 per article to $2.50. When I get a bit more data, I will prepare an article on this change.
Shadow Banning
Some writers complain about being shadow banned for this and that reason. Have I been shadow banned? For sure, after five years of contributing to Medium, I have not much to show for my time.
If I have been shadow banned, then many of the writers I follow have also been shadow banned: they are getting similar traction as I. I kind of doubt Medium has shadow banned most of its accounts.
And once in a while, I get an article that does quite well. I had 12 “viral” articles in 2023. A writer who has been shadow banned should not have articles that go way above his usual average.
No, I don’t think I’m being shadow banned. Rather, my ulterior motive is not something Medium contributors and readers appreciate.
My Ulterior Motive
You see, I have an alternative democracy. Western democracy is breaking down, and I have its replacement. And, as I have emphatically stated in many articles, average people will have to step up to effect this new democracy.
I have engaged with at least 5000 people on Medium about this alternative democracy. I’ve had good opportunity to deliver my message — and I’m thankful for Medium to have provided this forum.
While I have tried different ways and approaches of interacting, I would say that the 5000 people had (and still have) the ball in their court. Nearly all cannot be bothered with a serious investigation. A few believe my system will never work. A few others believe the current system can fix itself. Some believe we are heading for a collapse of some kind regardless. Most believe it is impossible to replace the current system, just like the Americans of 1776 believed it was impossible to replace their corrupt British governors.
So no one wants to put in the required effort. Should we not be surprised if the current system continues as it has been? Or gets worse?
Medium people don’t like to hear my message that makes them responsible for a better world, politically speaking. Positive democratic change is in their hands. And I can neither compliment nor complement them on their complaining and blaming.
And that’s why I am a bottom writer.
The Medium Pubs
When I joined Medium, media outlets like The Atlantic and New York Times were putting up their articles on Medium. My $50 Medium subscription gave me access to these well written works. When these publications left Medium, I believe the number of “mostly readers” has been slowly decreasing. Most of the struggling Medium writers (including myself), are just not good enough to keep the “mostly readers” in Medium.
I believe the pub owners need to be cut into the MPP. Writer gets 80%; pub owner gets 20%.
This will drastically change the relationship between the writer, pub owner, and readers.
I make about $20 a month from my handful of Medium articles. This small amount strokes my ego enough to help me stay with Medium. I believe a few Medium shekels going to the pub owners will encourage them to design and build better pubs.
For example, the pub owners would have a greater interest to recruit quality writers into their pubs. I would be interested in publishing in pubs that really wanted me. I quit the “looking for pubs” a few years ago: for the same amount of shekels, it’s easier to publish independently.
With more focused pubs, Medium will be attracting more “mostly readers” who will pay subscription fees to go directly to their favorite pubs to find them the better writers. The feeds, as I have said earlier, are not a quick route to quality reading. But the pubs can be.
Further Reading
Two years ago, I suggested a new way of grading Medium writers. It is based on my Tiered Democratic Governance.
Let writers vote the better writers up the tiers. Better writers get more exposure and shekels. New writers have a known forum with acceptable rules to compete against other writers and move higher.
With this system, the Medium selection process will be more credible and fair (e.g. no persistent rumors of shadow banning). More writers will stay — and pay subscription fees — if they believe the higher spots are earned, not given.
I recognize that this change will require a major investment in software. So it is unlikely Medium will go in this direction.
But it is fun to think of what could be.
Published on Medium 2024
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