Thank you for this text. I'm fairly new at Medium and at beginning I've read quite a few posts before I've even realized there is some "clap". Then I needed to "learn" that in the Medium community "clap" is not understood as the highest praise, but acknowledgement of "thank you", or "nice reading, thanks", or something of the sort. Just like the heart on Instagram is not "love" as on Facebook. I have learned how Medium and the community works, eventually, but it was thanks to the pointers from writers. Almost all state the same at the end of their articles, something like "if you liked it, leave a comment or clap". Such an omnipresent statement is easy to ignore. Others did it in somewhat different manner thanks to which they "taught" me the unwritten Medium rules.
I am not trying to say, that all readers/writes on Medium are newbies like I was a few months ago. Surely not. But there might be a proportion of readers who have never even bothered to "learn the rules" or who got blind to the "leave a comment" below the article. Maybe it's something they/we can be softly taught by the writers :) Or?
Hi Livia, nice to meet you. You are so right about people not knowing. And not just new ones! Let me tell you a funny little story. A company I work for recently signed up for a new business service. As soon as they added me as a user, I got a little welcome email. It said hello, new things can be confusing. So for the next 5 days, we'll send you one tip each day.
Then for 5 days, I got a little tip on how to use the service. Most common things people need to know. Just a simple little automation that made it much easier for their users who are new and feeling their way around.
I was new at Medium once, too, and I didn't know how things work. When my daughter joined, she had questions for a week and the help files there are very confusing! I think Medium (and lots of companies) could help make it easier for new members.
You might find this interesting or get mad. I almost sent your e-mail, unopened, to my spam folder. Here's why. We recently got a consolidation loan through our bank. I think I angered one of the "team' members because he was an ass. Not an hour later I'm getting SCAM e-mails, about 20 and hour, for payday loans etc. I sent them to spam unopened. They began their emails with symbols, either $ signs or hearts etc. This was very recently, so without opening your e-mail, just out of habit I saw the xo and checked the spam box. The popup that asked me if I wanted to unsub made me think, since I'm a new subscriber, that if I had subscribed then I must have thought you were safe. That's when I opened your e-mail and realized my error and read the blog and figured out my mistake. Perhaps those who wish to clear out their emails without opening because of the header are doing what I did? Or had my same experience? I won't do it again and the xo should have been okay but I was speeding through my deletes and again, without that popup would have made a tragic mistake, lol. Thanks!
I can relate. I got targeted by a spammer a few years ago and the volume they send is crazy. You might find this helpful, but I opened the headers and saw that they were coming from another country. My hosting company helped me set a filter to block email coming from the IP block and voila, problem solved. You might want to ask your email provider if they can help stop the flow of it. Very glad you didn't mark me as spam! :)
“I mean — I sort of do. People tend to think the world is made of content and they just consume and move along. Like a hot dog eating contest where people shove food in their mouth and swallow so fast they can’t even taste anything.”
OMG. The hot dog thing really spoke to me. So true. Brilliant post. Like your others. Happy weekend, L.
I can’t watch them either but the thought of it and content consuming…perfect!
Hmmm wondering whether the fad? of muckbang has increased hot dog eating contest viewing?!
Thanks for all the morning laughs on this, Linda. Perfect antidote to the rainy day. And soothing the also not-so-pretty (even tho bots and spam bye-bye)follower loss thingy.
First sentence -- right? Though to be fair, we'd all prob. get better response if Medium would fix the app. Cause claps on the apps sometimes don't stick. They disappear for some weird reason. Sure wish they'd fix that.
I admit I have read and moved on occasionally, without engaging. Sometimes I read a piece and I KNOW I'll disagree with it. I'd rather move on without engaging because I know I would be negative.
lol. I have done the same. It's the Bambi thing -- if you can't say something nice, don't say nuthin' at all. I loved that post you wrote about dreams. Medium finally decided to put it in my feed today. I wish the feed was less fickle and would figure out who I always read. :)
It actually made me really happy to read your comment on that one because the last time I published it, it bombed. It was a rewrite. Funny how a single comment can change a whole day 😊
Pure gold— oh, for sure. It means the world when someone thinks enough of my content to wait with bated breath. Wow! What an honor and privilege. Thanks for another great post and reminder about engagement.
Isn't that the truth. I had the funniest experience. One lady commented on my most recent history post to say she waits for those stories. Just stole my heart with a handful of words.
I just check my follower count. Lost 10 (out of 390) on one account and 200 on my bigger one. I knew there were fake profiles on there with no photos and bizarro names. I’m glad Medium caught up to expunging them. Have a great weekend!
I am glad the fakes weren't drawn to you. Not sure why so many of them followed me but glad to know all my readers are real people now. You have a great weekend, too. How's the book editing going? Or are you done now?
It’s In the hands of the editor and to be published in November! I’ve started a companion book and am back to blogging!! I’m so glad to rejoin the land of the living again. It was such a dark story.
I wrote a satire haiku there, one day, and a woman told me I was hilarious. Now my only wish is that she and I can live near each other some day. Ha!
Oh, but...in the print magazine days, I got one of those, sent to my EDITOR and forwarded to me. Oh MY! That was a lotta feels, too. Wanted to kiss her.
There is so much stuff in my head I am always glad when some small bit of it is helpful. You're very welcome -- and thank you for always showing up to read it, too. It's very appreciated. :)
Right? Sometimes people message or email and ask me what's the "secret" and I always tell them to engage more. It's a noisy world and everyone longs to be heard. You really shine at that, and thank you for it. :)
Well, I think you were so spot on when you wrote how you suspect writers do the most engaging - we GET it. We grasp its necessity for us and our fellow scribes. To quote Ram Dass for the billionth time, we're all just walking each other home
Thanks, Tree. When you and I were editors in the same neck of the woods, I found you to be the same. I'd post a question and hope you saw it because I knew you'd be both kind and helpful. Thanks for being you. :)
thanks, that means a lot to me. I find it strange that I'm still here on Medium, yet things haven't improved a lot for the average writer. Recent changes give me hope....
I have struggled so much there, too. I see people come in new and pass me like I'm standing still and it gets frustrating. I mean, realistically, I know I'm in the top 500 there, but feels like I'm not making progress. I'm hopeful for the changes, too. And, you're welcome. Every word of the truth. :)
I appreciate when a conversation between the author and commenter occurs, especially when it mirrors a conversation in real time.
You, Linda, are a writer whose level of engagement on Medium should be emulated.
Yeah, yeah, yeah I know it takes time and maybe cuts into income because there are fewer minutes in the day to write.
But aren’t relationships that are built over time and nourished through interaction the real measure of a person’s worth? Money, as I’ve said frequently, is a very poor yardstick of the value of our lives.
I'd just hit 1.9K and after reading your headline I checked my followers. I lost 3K useless followers, hoorah! Thanks for highlighting this latest bonus from Medium, Linda!
Oops! I must admit I am guilty as charged! I love your writing, read it on the email you send, and don't take the time to log into Substack and leave a comment! So sorry, and here's my start to being a more responsible reader [blush, blush, blush].
Rene, that was awesome. I was just reading comments on a feminist post -- which no one should do in the morning (lol) -- when this came in. Thank you so much for this. :)
I found your profile on Medium a few days ago and I'm reading your stories slowly. You've done a great job putting out content that is truly different from the most. :)
Thank you for this text. I'm fairly new at Medium and at beginning I've read quite a few posts before I've even realized there is some "clap". Then I needed to "learn" that in the Medium community "clap" is not understood as the highest praise, but acknowledgement of "thank you", or "nice reading, thanks", or something of the sort. Just like the heart on Instagram is not "love" as on Facebook. I have learned how Medium and the community works, eventually, but it was thanks to the pointers from writers. Almost all state the same at the end of their articles, something like "if you liked it, leave a comment or clap". Such an omnipresent statement is easy to ignore. Others did it in somewhat different manner thanks to which they "taught" me the unwritten Medium rules.
I am not trying to say, that all readers/writes on Medium are newbies like I was a few months ago. Surely not. But there might be a proportion of readers who have never even bothered to "learn the rules" or who got blind to the "leave a comment" below the article. Maybe it's something they/we can be softly taught by the writers :) Or?
Hi Livia, nice to meet you. You are so right about people not knowing. And not just new ones! Let me tell you a funny little story. A company I work for recently signed up for a new business service. As soon as they added me as a user, I got a little welcome email. It said hello, new things can be confusing. So for the next 5 days, we'll send you one tip each day.
Then for 5 days, I got a little tip on how to use the service. Most common things people need to know. Just a simple little automation that made it much easier for their users who are new and feeling their way around.
I was new at Medium once, too, and I didn't know how things work. When my daughter joined, she had questions for a week and the help files there are very confusing! I think Medium (and lots of companies) could help make it easier for new members.
Thanks so much for sharing this. :)
You might find this interesting or get mad. I almost sent your e-mail, unopened, to my spam folder. Here's why. We recently got a consolidation loan through our bank. I think I angered one of the "team' members because he was an ass. Not an hour later I'm getting SCAM e-mails, about 20 and hour, for payday loans etc. I sent them to spam unopened. They began their emails with symbols, either $ signs or hearts etc. This was very recently, so without opening your e-mail, just out of habit I saw the xo and checked the spam box. The popup that asked me if I wanted to unsub made me think, since I'm a new subscriber, that if I had subscribed then I must have thought you were safe. That's when I opened your e-mail and realized my error and read the blog and figured out my mistake. Perhaps those who wish to clear out their emails without opening because of the header are doing what I did? Or had my same experience? I won't do it again and the xo should have been okay but I was speeding through my deletes and again, without that popup would have made a tragic mistake, lol. Thanks!
I can relate. I got targeted by a spammer a few years ago and the volume they send is crazy. You might find this helpful, but I opened the headers and saw that they were coming from another country. My hosting company helped me set a filter to block email coming from the IP block and voila, problem solved. You might want to ask your email provider if they can help stop the flow of it. Very glad you didn't mark me as spam! :)
Thanks, at first I did it the hard way and blocked one by one but it was so many. Then after we closed the loan they stopped?
Ta rah rah boom dee yay, I'll clap for you today, I'll do that every day, ta rah rah boom dee yay.
LMAO
Thanks for the earworm, by the way. lol
My pleasure lass.
lol
“I mean — I sort of do. People tend to think the world is made of content and they just consume and move along. Like a hot dog eating contest where people shove food in their mouth and swallow so fast they can’t even taste anything.”
OMG. The hot dog thing really spoke to me. So true. Brilliant post. Like your others. Happy weekend, L.
lol. I can't even watch those. So gross. Happy weekend to you, too.
I can’t watch them either but the thought of it and content consuming…perfect!
Hmmm wondering whether the fad? of muckbang has increased hot dog eating contest viewing?!
Thanks for all the morning laughs on this, Linda. Perfect antidote to the rainy day. And soothing the also not-so-pretty (even tho bots and spam bye-bye)follower loss thingy.
First sentence -- right? Though to be fair, we'd all prob. get better response if Medium would fix the app. Cause claps on the apps sometimes don't stick. They disappear for some weird reason. Sure wish they'd fix that.
I admit I have read and moved on occasionally, without engaging. Sometimes I read a piece and I KNOW I'll disagree with it. I'd rather move on without engaging because I know I would be negative.
lol. I have done the same. It's the Bambi thing -- if you can't say something nice, don't say nuthin' at all. I loved that post you wrote about dreams. Medium finally decided to put it in my feed today. I wish the feed was less fickle and would figure out who I always read. :)
It actually made me really happy to read your comment on that one because the last time I published it, it bombed. It was a rewrite. Funny how a single comment can change a whole day 😊
Your last sentence made my whole point in 10 words. lol. What a great idea. Maybe I should re-write some of my stinkers. lol.
Funny I was just about to say that I just made your entire point lol. Great minds!
It's cuz we be Canucks. lol.
I’m glad Medium is cleaning house too.
Pure gold— oh, for sure. It means the world when someone thinks enough of my content to wait with bated breath. Wow! What an honor and privilege. Thanks for another great post and reminder about engagement.
Isn't that the truth. I had the funniest experience. One lady commented on my most recent history post to say she waits for those stories. Just stole my heart with a handful of words.
Oh that’s the best.
I just check my follower count. Lost 10 (out of 390) on one account and 200 on my bigger one. I knew there were fake profiles on there with no photos and bizarro names. I’m glad Medium caught up to expunging them. Have a great weekend!
I am glad the fakes weren't drawn to you. Not sure why so many of them followed me but glad to know all my readers are real people now. You have a great weekend, too. How's the book editing going? Or are you done now?
It’s In the hands of the editor and to be published in November! I’ve started a companion book and am back to blogging!! I’m so glad to rejoin the land of the living again. It was such a dark story.
Love such comments!
I wrote a satire haiku there, one day, and a woman told me I was hilarious. Now my only wish is that she and I can live near each other some day. Ha!
Oh, but...in the print magazine days, I got one of those, sent to my EDITOR and forwarded to me. Oh MY! That was a lotta feels, too. Wanted to kiss her.
Thanks Linda for another article for what is happening ‘under the radar.’
I learn practical information from your replies to comments. Those nuggets aren’t discussed much on Medium.
“… coming from another country. My hosting company helped me set a filter to block email coming from the IP block”
There is so much stuff in my head I am always glad when some small bit of it is helpful. You're very welcome -- and thank you for always showing up to read it, too. It's very appreciated. :)
Comments/engagement are not only gold but lifeblood for writers. I make a point of reading/engaging with those commenting in turn.
Right? Sometimes people message or email and ask me what's the "secret" and I always tell them to engage more. It's a noisy world and everyone longs to be heard. You really shine at that, and thank you for it. :)
Well, I think you were so spot on when you wrote how you suspect writers do the most engaging - we GET it. We grasp its necessity for us and our fellow scribes. To quote Ram Dass for the billionth time, we're all just walking each other home
I loved this! Your posts are always encouraging and I look forward to your Friday news.
Thanks, Tree. When you and I were editors in the same neck of the woods, I found you to be the same. I'd post a question and hope you saw it because I knew you'd be both kind and helpful. Thanks for being you. :)
thanks, that means a lot to me. I find it strange that I'm still here on Medium, yet things haven't improved a lot for the average writer. Recent changes give me hope....
I have struggled so much there, too. I see people come in new and pass me like I'm standing still and it gets frustrating. I mean, realistically, I know I'm in the top 500 there, but feels like I'm not making progress. I'm hopeful for the changes, too. And, you're welcome. Every word of the truth. :)
I appreciate when a conversation between the author and commenter occurs, especially when it mirrors a conversation in real time.
You, Linda, are a writer whose level of engagement on Medium should be emulated.
Yeah, yeah, yeah I know it takes time and maybe cuts into income because there are fewer minutes in the day to write.
But aren’t relationships that are built over time and nourished through interaction the real measure of a person’s worth? Money, as I’ve said frequently, is a very poor yardstick of the value of our lives.
Ok, I’m finished preaching! 🙃
Precious, as always. Thanks.
I'd just hit 1.9K and after reading your headline I checked my followers. I lost 3K useless followers, hoorah! Thanks for highlighting this latest bonus from Medium, Linda!
I now look forward to your Friday posts. Often insightful....and funny. And for an aspiring writer instructional as well.
Oops! I must admit I am guilty as charged! I love your writing, read it on the email you send, and don't take the time to log into Substack and leave a comment! So sorry, and here's my start to being a more responsible reader [blush, blush, blush].
Rene, that was awesome. I was just reading comments on a feminist post -- which no one should do in the morning (lol) -- when this came in. Thank you so much for this. :)
Well, that leaves me confused. Guess I should go check my reader count. Sigh, I hate learning new tech. Thanks for your article, though.
I found your profile on Medium a few days ago and I'm reading your stories slowly. You've done a great job putting out content that is truly different from the most. :)
Thank you Gled. What a really nice thing to say. Much appreciated! :)