You are right Sam, reading and learning is so important. Mark Twain once said a man who doesn't read has no advantage over a man who can't. Good to hear from you and hope you are well!
Yup. That's the thing. It's not a simple solve. And it doesn't help when people who aren't really the problem look at it with blinders of their own use-case scenario. :)
See, I had this same idea, Dave, but erotica succeeds, oftentimes, because people don't have to subscribe to an “erotica site.” Instead, people get to go covert, subscribe to Medium, and float in and out of erotica content. Just human nature.
It's not really about whether the president would be shocked, though. It's about whether or not the president wants people who come there to read his posts to be exposed to erotica. That's a question any reputable writer could ask. If I send people from my list "to" Medium, do I want them exposed to that content because they came to read me, and that's a valid question
I hadn't heard that anecdote about the POTUS account! What a great story. The more background information for why Medium makes various changes, the easier it is to sidestep the sense of frustration when a story gets rejected. A few words here and there are enough to sink an otherwise high quality submission. I hope writers will feel more compelled to listen to editors!
So far, writers have been really great. I don't know if all editors can say the same but I hope so. Glad you enjoyed the Potus story -- I thought it was hilarious.
Thanks for the heads up — and once again you're the leading edge source for info on all things Medium. Yes, it's good to consider what their curators are up against: nearly an impossible and certainly a thankless job. But with their new guidelines, they do make exceptions: I just had a piece Boosted that contains one use of the f-bomb (entirely justified, IMO) — but it's in Crow's Feet so probably safe from tender-aged eyes. Maybe that's why.
The POTUS account story is hilarious!!! I guess I will start paying more attention to my swears when I publish on Medium (if I ever manage to publish anything I feel boost-worthy lol)
I get where Medium is coming from, but I worry for social justice and LGBTQ writers, since violence and sexuality are often themes that come up. Terrie told me that as long as it's a productive conversation, and not just drumming up additional outrage, then it can be boosted.
Yet, it's so subjective what is considered a productive conversation vs just outrage. (E.g. I personally think Jessica Wildfire's pieces are thoughtful and insightful, often with practical takeaways at the end that give us hope. But many other people think she just writes doom porn. :( )
So some queer and trans writers at our pub, worry that this will disadvantage them a lot, that they'll have to be careful to avoid all topics related to sexuality or violence... :(
I'm not sure the difference between productive conversation and outrage is subjective as much as it's nuanced and many writers don't see the difference. To explain, I see this all the time in my On Reflection publication. I ask writers to reflect on something, add a takeaway. But still, many writers just write a play by play of something that happened and don't understand what I'm asking them. In the same way, I don't think some people know what a productive conversation is. They think telling a shocking story is a conversation and it's not.
One thing that might be helpful is to look at posts that are boosted in that space. Another thing is to look at how an actual journalist covers a topic in mainstream media. Just to use an example. Let's say a violent incident occurs. When the writer writes about it, do they spend 3 paragraphs detailing the thing that happened and offer a short opinion after? That's not a conversation. It's just outrage. Or does the writer recap the incident briefly and spend more of the real estate discussing the cultural and political reasons this is happening and what we need to do about it. That's a conversation. You know?
There is nuance. But I think looking at what does get boosted in that space will help develop an eye for the nuance Medium is looking at when deciding whether to boost.
I find it ironic that we can’t use the word “vulva” but it’s ok to endorse an entire publication about “bitchy” women.
So let me get this straight. We can call a woman a bitch but god forbid we use the medical term for her genitals? And then we wonder why the U.S. rate for rape is seven times higher than the average for Europe. Maybe if women were educated on their vulvas and not their bitchiness, we wouldn’t have these problems.
We live in a world where calling women bitchy is not seen as problematic because heaven knows, everyone knows a bitchy woman (ugh) -- but heaven forbid we talk about female anatomy or periods because it offends a specific segment of the population. Your last sentence killed me. lol. So true.
As we continually return to The Dark Ages, I guess calling “vulva” lady parts or lady unmentionables or bits or who-who...these will be acceptable terms. Wait! I know, we will have to be content to accept there is no acceptable label and therefore any mention of particular parts of a woman are banned in medical school books too.
Yeah, this has made me extremely grumpy. Grrrrrrrrrr.
Many erotica writers have left since the Biden thing, but it's still a thriving genre. I've got an erotica account myself. The good writers don't try to get around clever filters- they're writing to people that are looking for that sort of story.
Nearly all of my erotic stories have the "erotica" tag. People that want it, search for it. The stories that get shoved in people's faces like that are on par with the "shock value clickbait" in my opinion. There's no need to fool the algorithm to get views- plenty of people are looking for the sex already.
I don't mind working with the filters too keep my stuff off people's feed. Plenty of 13 year olds use the platform, and I've no interest in pushing any of my x rated stories their way. In fact, until today I thought Medium had enough filters in place to prevent that from happening.
That being said, I guess I'll have to tone down the language on TAM if I want to get boosted. That's good to know.
I just love this so much. I agree. There's no need for the shock value clickbait that gets shoved in the face of people not looking for it and kids. Those are the people Medium is trying to deal with, not people like you who will abide by filters and tags to reach only the people who want that content. Thank you for saying it. :)
Thanks for keeping us up to date, as always, I appreciate your informative articles. Medium just keeps on making it more difficult. I don't have a lot of faith that the algorithm won't have it's own ideas. Not a simple problem to solve.
What, Marqis De Sade is out - take the ta out of Lolita, no delicious, lasciviousness, kill the Avant guard, forget Alan Ginsberg, no more menstrual poems by Anne Sexton, no Tropic of Cancer et al. Comedy isn't funny anymore either.
An accurate assessment in some ways most certainly, but I see an openness towards sexuality in a sociopolitical context as in respect for people's sexual orientation. But the media, to include our Medium, a great deal in the world of entertainment and also free versions of AI are more restricted. Well, we all know the unfortunate ramifications of censorship and repression. We are as sick as the secrets we keep.
Hey Linda. Thanks for this. Ho boy, I need to think this one through, but you make great points( and as always, really helpful). Maybe it isn’t that I have to think more on this, maybe I’m ( more than) a little worn out with all the upheavals around. Carly Beccia’s comment and your response in this post rings so true. Two steps forward and 80 back.
You are right Sam, reading and learning is so important. Mark Twain once said a man who doesn't read has no advantage over a man who can't. Good to hear from you and hope you are well!
I have a lot of proposed solutions but for every proposal, I also have a counter-argument for why it won’t be feasible. Certainly not a simple solve.
Yup. That's the thing. It's not a simple solve. And it doesn't help when people who aren't really the problem look at it with blinders of their own use-case scenario. :)
Well- I see Medium is doing fine. (Ugh).
There's clearly a market for erotica on the web-maybe Medium could spin that stuff off into a separate site. OnlyFans for prose.
And I doubt the President would be shocked by profanity in his presence- Joe's been around the block for many years...
See, I had this same idea, Dave, but erotica succeeds, oftentimes, because people don't have to subscribe to an “erotica site.” Instead, people get to go covert, subscribe to Medium, and float in and out of erotica content. Just human nature.
It's not really about whether the president would be shocked, though. It's about whether or not the president wants people who come there to read his posts to be exposed to erotica. That's a question any reputable writer could ask. If I send people from my list "to" Medium, do I want them exposed to that content because they came to read me, and that's a valid question
I hadn't heard that anecdote about the POTUS account! What a great story. The more background information for why Medium makes various changes, the easier it is to sidestep the sense of frustration when a story gets rejected. A few words here and there are enough to sink an otherwise high quality submission. I hope writers will feel more compelled to listen to editors!
So far, writers have been really great. I don't know if all editors can say the same but I hope so. Glad you enjoyed the Potus story -- I thought it was hilarious.
Thanks for the heads up — and once again you're the leading edge source for info on all things Medium. Yes, it's good to consider what their curators are up against: nearly an impossible and certainly a thankless job. But with their new guidelines, they do make exceptions: I just had a piece Boosted that contains one use of the f-bomb (entirely justified, IMO) — but it's in Crow's Feet so probably safe from tender-aged eyes. Maybe that's why.
That could be Jan, I'm not sure. I'm sure it's going to be pretty nuanced for a while. And you're so right -- it must be a thankless job.
The POTUS account story is hilarious!!! I guess I will start paying more attention to my swears when I publish on Medium (if I ever manage to publish anything I feel boost-worthy lol)
Wasn't it?! lol. I have started watching my potty mouth too.
Hahahahaha!
I get where Medium is coming from, but I worry for social justice and LGBTQ writers, since violence and sexuality are often themes that come up. Terrie told me that as long as it's a productive conversation, and not just drumming up additional outrage, then it can be boosted.
Yet, it's so subjective what is considered a productive conversation vs just outrage. (E.g. I personally think Jessica Wildfire's pieces are thoughtful and insightful, often with practical takeaways at the end that give us hope. But many other people think she just writes doom porn. :( )
So some queer and trans writers at our pub, worry that this will disadvantage them a lot, that they'll have to be careful to avoid all topics related to sexuality or violence... :(
I'm not sure the difference between productive conversation and outrage is subjective as much as it's nuanced and many writers don't see the difference. To explain, I see this all the time in my On Reflection publication. I ask writers to reflect on something, add a takeaway. But still, many writers just write a play by play of something that happened and don't understand what I'm asking them. In the same way, I don't think some people know what a productive conversation is. They think telling a shocking story is a conversation and it's not.
One thing that might be helpful is to look at posts that are boosted in that space. Another thing is to look at how an actual journalist covers a topic in mainstream media. Just to use an example. Let's say a violent incident occurs. When the writer writes about it, do they spend 3 paragraphs detailing the thing that happened and offer a short opinion after? That's not a conversation. It's just outrage. Or does the writer recap the incident briefly and spend more of the real estate discussing the cultural and political reasons this is happening and what we need to do about it. That's a conversation. You know?
There is nuance. But I think looking at what does get boosted in that space will help develop an eye for the nuance Medium is looking at when deciding whether to boost.
Thanks, Linda! That's a good example. :) We will have a good look at those boosted pieces.
I find it ironic that we can’t use the word “vulva” but it’s ok to endorse an entire publication about “bitchy” women.
So let me get this straight. We can call a woman a bitch but god forbid we use the medical term for her genitals? And then we wonder why the U.S. rate for rape is seven times higher than the average for Europe. Maybe if women were educated on their vulvas and not their bitchiness, we wouldn’t have these problems.
As an editor for Bitchy. I support this message 🙌😅
We live in a world where calling women bitchy is not seen as problematic because heaven knows, everyone knows a bitchy woman (ugh) -- but heaven forbid we talk about female anatomy or periods because it offends a specific segment of the population. Your last sentence killed me. lol. So true.
As we continually return to The Dark Ages, I guess calling “vulva” lady parts or lady unmentionables or bits or who-who...these will be acceptable terms. Wait! I know, we will have to be content to accept there is no acceptable label and therefore any mention of particular parts of a woman are banned in medical school books too.
Yeah, this has made me extremely grumpy. Grrrrrrrrrr.
Many erotica writers have left since the Biden thing, but it's still a thriving genre. I've got an erotica account myself. The good writers don't try to get around clever filters- they're writing to people that are looking for that sort of story.
Nearly all of my erotic stories have the "erotica" tag. People that want it, search for it. The stories that get shoved in people's faces like that are on par with the "shock value clickbait" in my opinion. There's no need to fool the algorithm to get views- plenty of people are looking for the sex already.
I don't mind working with the filters too keep my stuff off people's feed. Plenty of 13 year olds use the platform, and I've no interest in pushing any of my x rated stories their way. In fact, until today I thought Medium had enough filters in place to prevent that from happening.
That being said, I guess I'll have to tone down the language on TAM if I want to get boosted. That's good to know.
I just love this so much. I agree. There's no need for the shock value clickbait that gets shoved in the face of people not looking for it and kids. Those are the people Medium is trying to deal with, not people like you who will abide by filters and tags to reach only the people who want that content. Thank you for saying it. :)
A lot of people think dropping an F bomb makes their story edgy. 99.9% of the time it doesn't come close.
I agree. There are times there is no other word. But that's crazy rare
I’m glad I already posted “Motherfucker’s Day Had Come.” It was good and it was funny and I probably wouldn’t post it now.
Thanks for keeping us up to date, as always, I appreciate your informative articles. Medium just keeps on making it more difficult. I don't have a lot of faith that the algorithm won't have it's own ideas. Not a simple problem to solve.
What, Marqis De Sade is out - take the ta out of Lolita, no delicious, lasciviousness, kill the Avant guard, forget Alan Ginsberg, no more menstrual poems by Anne Sexton, no Tropic of Cancer et al. Comedy isn't funny anymore either.
We are a culture more repressed than ever and repressing further, and thinking that we are actually progressive.
An accurate assessment in some ways most certainly, but I see an openness towards sexuality in a sociopolitical context as in respect for people's sexual orientation. But the media, to include our Medium, a great deal in the world of entertainment and also free versions of AI are more restricted. Well, we all know the unfortunate ramifications of censorship and repression. We are as sick as the secrets we keep.
I Haven’t been here for ages believing no one would give a damn about my work. I’m touched that you responded.
Medium went to hell about the same time they implemented the popularity contest known as the boost.
Hey Linda. Thanks for this. Ho boy, I need to think this one through, but you make great points( and as always, really helpful). Maybe it isn’t that I have to think more on this, maybe I’m ( more than) a little worn out with all the upheavals around. Carly Beccia’s comment and your response in this post rings so true. Two steps forward and 80 back.