Less fickle would be great

New changes coming to Medium

Happy Friday…

At the end of July, Medium announced some changes they’re working on and invited writers to sign up for the Beta.

Some people lost their minds about the least important changes.
And overlooked the ones that will be a total gong show.

As they often do, Medium minimized the most important change and only (finally!) emphasized it in an email that went out this morning.

Quick summary of the changes coming, so we can talk about the good one.

1) More “design options” for publications.

Publications will be able to use different background colors, font colors and font faces. And if you only looked at the samples they showed, it seems like a pretty good thing.

Problem is, I’ve stumbled across some of the “beta” publications using the new design options and here’s what I can promise. MySpace isn’t dead. lol.

Little note in advance of the changes going public. Don’t use white text on a dark background. It will reduce your read times. That’s a promise. It’s one of the first things designers learned back in the early days of html.

2) Short form content will be introduced.

Here’s what Medium had to say about it…

Sometimes, you may not want to write a whole story, but instead want to post an interesting quote, link to a great article, or share a beautiful photo. Our new inline reading experience provides a natural space to experience short-form content, and we’ve relaxed our story requirements so that you can easily share something that doesn’t follow the format of a traditional story.

A lot of people lost their minds, saying Medium is going to turn into Twitter. Nope. It won’t. Because writers still get paid by read time. That, itself, will sort out the issue. I suspect what will happen is that writers will use short form content sporadically to stay visible, but still keep the focus on the work that actually pays.

3) Friction-less reading

That sounds good, doesn’t it? Here’s what it means. When readers click to read a story that’s published in a publication, they’ll be spoon-fed more content. When they get to the end of the post, another will appear right under it. Not from the writer they clicked to read. From the publication. It will probably be great for engagement rates, but won’t do much for writers unless they have their own publication.

4) The feed will be less fickle

This is the change that was expanded on in the email from Medium this morning. Here’s what Medium had to say:

One of the things we're working on specifically… more consistent connections between readers and regular writers. … if you love the perspective or style of a particular writer, you should be able to follow them and know you'll see their posts every time. Likewise, if you're a writer, you want to know you can build an audience that is consistent…

In the past, the feed was about as reliable as Facebook. Often, I didn’t see posts by writers I read every time I see their name in my feed. And vice verse. People who follow me didn’t have any clue when I published, because the feed was drunk.

They’re working on improving that so people who follow you see your new posts more reliably. I suspect the only way to do that is to show readers less of who they don’t follow, if that makes sense.

Many will struggle with the changes…

A lot of people are going to struggle with the changes. Here’s why.

When “friction-less” reading starts showing more content from the publication, that will effectively move readers on to the “next” post, which will likely be another writer who writes for the same publication.

Plus? When they ensure readers see posts by people they follow, there will be less space for new faces in the feed. Which will, in turn, put more focus on the importance of writers growing their own audience.

People will struggle with that, I suspect. It’s the age old struggle, isn’t it? Most writers struggle to build an audience. It’s the most common problem I hear from readers.

Smarter, not harder?

You know that old saying about working smarter, not harder?
That’s what comes to mind.

I think the best way to leverage the changes for growth will be to build a publication of your own, and alternate between writing for your publication and writing for other publications to get in front of new faces.

The “friction-less reading” feature will show readers more by the same author, which means more exposure for you. And as your following grows, the feed will make sure your followers see your posts.

P.S. Last week I promised a post about picking publications on Medium. You’ll find it in the list of this week’s writing, below.

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My new publication!

I’ve created a new publication to collect my own writing. Because how dare I tell you to do something I have not done myself, right?

It’s brand new with no followers. Not polished or pretty yet, but if you’re on Medium, I’d sure appreciate if you’d follow so my writing appears in your feed. It’s here:

My collected writings on Medium

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“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

—Socrates

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Here’s what I wrote this week:

• Why Big Publications & Publishers So Often Disappoint

• I Learned Hate Young

• 8 Traits That Indicate Aptitude for Writing. A fun quiz for writers

• Ageism. The Final Frontier For People Too Woke to Be Racists

• The Post I Promised About Picking Publications on Medium

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How is it September already? Hope you have a great long weekend.

If you enjoyed this, please click the heart. On Substack, hearts are like claps on Medium—a nice way to say you liked my writing. :)

Also? Comments are open. If you’re reading this via email, click the title and you’ll be able to leave a comment, too.

:)
Linda