I wish I had some better answers-- or at least some clarity on what the long range thinking is. It feels like they're trying a bunch of things all at once and seeing what works/what doesn't. In some ways, that's fine--maybe even necessary-- but it also gives the impression that no one is thinking through second order effects.
Yup, agree Kevin. I wish they'd talk about changes more at least within the nominator's group. It's a smaller group than posting on Medium for the world to read, and they could have some semi-private discussion in the Slack group to get some feedback and let us know what's happening. It's hard to see in the dark.
There was a lot more discussion early on when the nominators were included in the Medium Community Slack. There, the nominators felt like part of the discussion, and part of the solution. It got to be too much for the Medium staffers to handle, so they gave us the boot. When they booted the nominators out of there, the discussion ended. It came back a bit in subsequent months, but it has never been the same.
I agree, Chris. It's never been the same and that makes me a little sad. Sometimes it makes me wonder if the Beta grew too fast. There's still hiccups, but there's too many nominators to field any meaningful conversation. It feels counter intuitive because the bedrock of beta testing is to get feedback. Of course, that's just my two cents worth.
SOMETIMES??? Try every time. I have 5000 followers and anything I've published in the last couple months gets about 20 views total. Medium has just turned into garbage for me. It's not even a good place to promote my Substack anymore. Pure garbage.
I hear you Kristi. Anything I write that doesn't get boosted gets crap for views. But I run 3 pubs and see a handful of people that still get views when they're not boosted. With one guy, I submitted his post for a boost and said look, this post got over 2K claps without a boost, clearly it's resonating with people and should be boosted. They declined. But the post didn't suffer the lack of views most do if they're not boosted.
I've only had one post ever that took off without a boost. The one about getting fired at 50. But even though it got a few thousand claps it didn't earn near what it would have 2 years ago. Oh well. I've made more on Substack in my first 2 months than on Medium in all of 2023 😂😂
Again this is more of your spot-on good stuff, Linda.
About this part: “Here’s what Medium told us. If a story doesn’t get boosted, don’t worry, it will still be shown to the writer’s followers and the publication’s followers.”
Based on my personal experience? No way they are showing a new story to a writers list of followers. The followers of the pub, a big nope too.
I think they do email latest posts to all signed up subscribers to a writer’s post, though. Do you agree?
Still...how hard is it to program Algo to put a new story in front of followers?
While my frequency of writing this last year is almost nonexistent, I feel horrible for frequent excellent writers watching their comp drop like a boulder.
Yup -- agree. I don't think they get shown to the followers if it's not boosted either. Whether it goes out by email, I don't know. I know some people say yes and others say no, so I'm not sure what to make of it.
Thanks for doing all this work to support Medium writers like me. I've been boosted one time, saw a tiny bump and since the change, have seen my earnings drop to 10% of what they were before. But like you, I still find Medium a great place for a writer like me. So, I hope Tony and the others in charge see your article and are able to make changes to improve things so we scribes can make enough money to at least buy coffee to stay awake and keep writing.
lol, Maureen. If all they pay us is to buy coffee, they're going to be left with clickbait and meta posts about how to make money on medium. October has been a dreadful month for me, too. I think I'm at about a third of last month.
Good point, sometimes I feel I really missed the boat on medium because I just joined early this year. I'm an indie author of fiction novels, but I love writing articles for online pubs like this. One month I made enough money to purchase ads for my books. That's kind of the idea of medium for me: put my name out there and help pay for promo and marketing...I'll hang in there for a bit more, unless I find a new site...
Good article, Linda. I've had about 5 articles Boosted in the last 2 months - which I'm very happy about. 😁 But … every other story of mine has gotten less than average views and reads. Every one. It seems the Boost program is the main source of distribution because my followers ARE NOT seeing my stories - they're just not. Not sure what followers are for now. I'm curious. Also, when boosted I got hundreds of new followers --- but there was no secondary effect of other stories getting more views. It's like 700 new customers came into my "store" saw the one item they came to see and left quickly without looking at anything else --- very odd. I'm happier today about Medium than I was in June but also more frustrated because I can't make sense of anything. Nothing is predictable. Like opening the garage door every morning and some days your cars is inside and some days it's in the neighbor's garage - huh? Kevin said below that they seem to be trying a bunch of stuff but aren't sure which is working. That's not scientific method - that's a marketing -- Let's throw it on the stoop and see if the cat licks it up - method. Again I like the boost feeling but lament all my other stories get 10 views and looking really sad off ibn the corner. Cheers
I'm seeing the same, Joe. I have 35K followers and posts that don't get boosted are lucky to get a hundred reads. There's no way my followers are seeing them. Last week one of my regular readers left a comment that said he's glad I'm back. But I never left. Guess I just wasn't in his feed. I have some sad ones off in the corner too, so I feel for you. The car swapping would be okay though, my neighbor has a nice car. lol
Based on my observations, those who already have a loyal audience don't suffer as much but everyday I see hi quality articles languishing with very few reads or engagement - it can put a dent in the motivation to continue writing - but then again if new members are pouring in then who cares if a few leave, right? Sigh
It does put a dent in motivation, for sure. It would be nice to find a place where we aren't replaceable cogs in the machine. Alas I don't know such a place. Except home, and no one pays me there. lol
It seems that as with training a dog, the Medium execs tend to find out after the fact that they've reinforced behavior they didn't want. I wish I had suggestions for creative solutions, but I do wish they were including Beta nominators in their discussions. What I see now is that unless one of my stories gets Boosted (and lately, none of them have although I had a very good run previously), nobody sees them. Sigh. Hope TS reads your piece.
I wish they were including us too, Jan. But apparently there's too many of us to make that feasible except on a one-on-one basis because we are welcome to email if we have issues. But sending an email isn't the same as a group discussion, you know?
That is bullshit. I actually spoke for HOURS with Buster Benson about how the algo could be fixed and how they could still drive up profits. I would have KILLED to see Medium give writers the chance to add their own personal storefronts managed by a third party. (Very doable, btw.)
Good example, Jan. I have never been part of a company, business or group that makes as many changes as Medium and still ends up with such a large majority of members being unhappy. From a business or scientific viewpoint - you have to wonder if they are using surveys and meetings to decide their next move - or excuse the pun - a medium to see what the spirits are saying. How does a business make 6-10 major changes over the past 4-5 years and have everyone of them result in writers making less money - Unless that is what they intended for whatever reason. I think they are scrambling to drive more $$$ to the bottom line and every action is designed to do that - but Up Here where all the writers and readers - it looks like the Three Stooges are running the board room.
Linda, I saw the external view problem initially but it has seemed to go away and things are more ‘normal’, whatever that is. And that’s the problem. Those of us who write a lot on Medium have no idea what normal is anymore because the platform keeps screwing around with poorly tested coding and bad ideas. Stats are a total mess and it really looks like whomever is designing them knows nothing about UI, statistics, or what is actually useful for a writer. Instead they look like they are being manipulated to make a case for poor strategic decisions. Call me paranoid but I think Medium is screwing with us.
lol, I won't even start on the stats, though I might write about it some day. Why are there green bars that don't click to anything? The green bar shows how many views today. But can I click it and see where they came from? Or what they read? Nope. lol. Christ.
Btw, yes, Substack does better with focused subject matter. But so does Medium. When I zeroed in on my sweet spot subject-wise my earnings and follower count soared. Before that I was all over the map. Now I have three substack newsletters, none mega successes, but the earnings are gradually increasing and I love that you get paid every time a card clears. It may not be much but every day it’s likely that something will show up in my bank account. Nice source of motivation! M
On Medium, personal essays are my sweet spot, at least as far as getting paid goes. But I doubt anyone wants to pay for a substack subscription to hear about my life. Now, if I was to teach people to make money online, that might fly. Some of the self help crowd from Medium have pretty successful Substacks in the self growth/make money niche. I don't have the stomach for that. Guess it's my turn to be cynical. lol
Not so sure, Linda. Heather Cox Richardson is Queen on Substack and though well written, her newsletter is all politics from a historical perspective and a lot of it isn't a joy to read. Accurate, and on point, yes, but it gives me agita. You write from a wonderful perspective, historical or otherwise. Also some of the other biggies on Substack have a large humor slant - My Kids an Asshole (or something like that) being one of them, making the writer a lot of $$$. I think there's room for you. 🌹
An algorithm is like a Bouncer that decides who does and doesn't get in the Nightclub. Medium's algorithm is running the show. If the stats are weird - which I agree they are - then the algorithm is behind it and everything else. I had 2 days of great views on my Stat Page and 90% of my stories showed no movement. Gremlins messing about at night?
Right? I've had some weird stuff too. The most concerning part is the monthly views seem to be sliding down a little farther every month. I don't like that much lol
Medium is worth dealing with the issues, but you're right that ignoring them isn't the answer either. They've started heading in the right direction, but as you've pointed out they've still got some work to do. I appreciate your data collection on this, as I'm certain we've all felt these things but weren't sure how common they were. 💕
I detest the Boost program. I find that ONLY my Boosted pieces make money. I don’t have the income or inclination to bribe a nommer. Here on Substack, I niched down for the reason you gave. It’s too early to know if it’s working. I think so, though. I love Medium and I wish they’d stop screwing around with it -- sometimes I make defect money there, but the money shouldn’t vary so much when I’m consistently working hard and writing pieces people like.
Wait, are there nommers who can be bribed? lol. Michelle, you are a kick ass writer and I hope most of your writing gets boosted. My 3 pubs are very niche-y. History, book reviews and the last one is personal reflection. I have discovered that many people do not know the difference between re-telling and reflection, so we have a low acceptance rate on that one. But if any of those are up your alley, I'd be happy to have you. Just saying. And no pressure. lol. I will go check out what you're doing here on Substack. :)
Yes, I felt I was solicited by someone. I was told my piece could be boostable if I paid for that person’s expertise. Apparently, I need to be taught how to write better. The editor declined to nominate the piece after I declined to pay. It’s performing close to my Boosted pieces and is not, I think, too bad. I’m not going to submit there again. Add me to your pubs! I do have a book review forming in my mind for Land of Milk and Honey.
I think I’ve only received one Boost this month, and I publish nearly every day. Some of it, I believe, is worthy.
Oct 29, 2023·edited Oct 31, 2023Liked by Linda Caroll
Hi Michelle, I had no idea that you took it that way. I was wondering why you no longer submit to Bitchy. You had mentioned you were not sure why your articles were not getting boosted. You had submitted to Bitchy perhaps a four times or so. Because you seemed distraught, I suggested you go to my website and get the free guideline on how to write persuasive essays and/or you could hire me as a coach. There is no guarantee you will get boosted even after you hire me, though.
I used to extensively edit the articles of those who seem eager or have the potential. But it was taking a toll on my day job. So I decided to advertise my service in case to people who seemed eager to learn. I didn't reject your article because you didn't hire me. Far from that. I rejected it because it wasn't good enough (in my pov) to get boosted.
I know it's hard to hear that an article hasn't been nominated or it needs improvement. I get about 10 submissions a day on Bitchy and on my other pub, The Point of View, I get about 5. Everyone wants to get nominated, obviously. I can't give extensive editing on all of them. In your case, I edited more than I usually would. I said you article starts in the 3rd paragraph and you moved it around. In the second around, the argument you made was still one sided, which doesn't bode well for boosting. I'm a nominator and by now, I kind of have an idea what gets boosted and don't.
All nominators and curators are human. With that comes subjectivity. That works the same way when publishing outside of Medium. That in no way means you're not a good writer. I've had pieces that weren't boosted but did quite well, too. That doesn't mean my or the Medium curators' assessment of your essay was wrong.
I can understand your side of the story and why you thought I was telling you to buy my service so you could get boosted. That's not it at all, though. I hardly approach people to buy my service. I only do that with those I feel are struggling (since you said you had no idea why your articles were not getting boosted). Sure, I could have edited your piece like I would a paying client, and I used to do that. I just don't have that capacity while juggling work, being a mommy to a little boy, and so on. By the way, I also said you can download my free guideline on how to write opinions. Perhaps that offended you because you mentioned you've been writing for a long time. I understand that part, too.
Wow. June, thank you for addressing this and I'm sorry it was a public conversation. I have had writers message me to ask if I nominated their post and my policy is that I don't tell anyone which stories I did or did not nominate. It just saves feelings all around.
A story in one of my pubs took off and got over 2K claps in the first 24 hours it was up. So I nominated it. It was a good piece and clearly it was resonating with readers. They declined to boost it. I was stunned. But stuff like that happens. Good and writers get declined too. So I don't discuss what I did or didn't nominate anymore.
A couple of my articles have turned up on something called flipboard. There have been times I've logged in and have seen 80,000 views on a story, and usually they come from flipboard. I feel okay about my work drawing in new readers. I also actively recruit to bring new memberships to medium (even without the referral bonus). The idea of incognito mode offering free reads is concerning because that seems to undermine the membership model. Like you, I think the boost problem is great and I believe there are responsible people working to make it even better. Discussions like this are part of that process.
Hey Walter -- just to clarify, incognito mode doesn't offer free reads. It just lets us see what non-members see. This is the second time this week I've heard flipboard mentioned. I should check it out. I'd love to log in and see 800 views, nevermind 80,000. lol.
Oh thank you for that clarification! The times I've had 80,000 views have been anti-climatic. I don't know if it's actual human beings or bots. It hasn't led to positive discussions or anything like that. I don't really understand the tech side of things, it's just a big number that shows up on my stats graphic for a month and then goes away.
I had a couple of instances of mega-views via Flipboard and thought it would be worth learning and using. It wasn't. The stuff I shared over there got crickets!
I don't know anything about the Flipboard algorithm, but it clearly "boosts" (there's thart word again) posts by certain publications to the mx, and ignores everything else.
Unless you are part of the "in crowd" there's no way to leverage it. Sound familiar??
I tried sharing one of my articles on there, but I got nothing. I don't know if it takes a respected profile to get any attention or what... Sigh, wouldn't it be nice if all these platforms were honest about what it took to succeed on them?
Come to think of it, I am simply guessing on scant evidence that subscribers receive notification of new posts. ARGH. You’d think Medium would want to fix this or at least be fully transparent, it would calm a lot of agitated waters right now. Then again, I am wearing my rose-colored glasses today…🙄
It sure would. I know there are troubles with the newsletter, but I don't know about the notification system. I read Prism and Pen and every week James talks about problems with the newsletter failing to reach readers. I don't know if that same problem affects post notification emails too. I have signed up to get email notifications for several writers, but I receive exactly ZERO. They don't reach me and I don't know why. But some people tell me they receive my post notifications. I don't know why it's glitchy, but it seems to be. So I think it's hit and miss.
I kind of miss my rose colored glasses. They broke some time ago. :)
Oh. Oh. Oh. (Cannot contain excitement here) You have given me The Best idea yet( and my friend, your awesome brain is full of good stuff) But this one, whoa! Nix the hope of earning anything through writing. I am going into the rose-colored glasses business. Drop shipping, I think. Advance orders happily accepted.🙄😭😭🌹🌹
lol. Just don't buy a program on how to make money with your brand new shopify store. Because those grifters are everywhere. I can see them much more clearly now that my rose colored glasses broke.
I've noticed that there is often a lag between me publishing and ANY views showing up. Not so long as your experiment, but sometimes 6-8 hours. That defies belief when I have 120+ subscribers who get an instant email.
I assumed it was a glitch in the reporting, but maybe not...
It's hard to know. Plus, there's two different stats. One that updates every 24 hours and one that's supposed to update hourly. So even if there is a glitch, technically it should sort out in an hour when the next update happens. I also wonder if subscribers reliably get the emails.
In my case, the answer is a resounding "no." There are 4-5 authors I subscribe to via email, and it's always hit and miss. One was so bad that I just set up an RSS feed to get their stories.
Fascinating, thought-provoking post. I love this line of yours:
Writers are people before they are writers.
I have been wanting to better understand the metrics and payment methodology of the boost program, and this has helped. My curiosity arose because I had an article posted during the week we were taking on the banning of books. I wrote a slightly funny, slightly meaningful 2-minute piece where I focused on the bible. The piece received a lot of views and claps but only earned me $5.62. It felt out of line with reader response (but then again it was only 2 minutes)
Within the articles that I've had boosted, the range of payment has been large and didn't seem to me to always correlate with the stats. I think there's a lot they put into that pot before they tell you how much, and it's clear that I don't understand the methodology.
Bottom line: It's gobblygook to me and maybe a road paved with better intentions than results. I say this as someone who is not bitter about not being boosted because I've been fortunate there. I am saying this as someone who sees that the Boost program is not the total solution, though I don't know what is. Your piece explains a fair bit in what's otherwise a blackbox. Thank you.
Part of what I do in my day job is SEO. I explain to clients that google does not reveal how their algorithm works because if they did, people would try to outsmart it or capitalize on it. I have come to the conclusion that medium's partner program works much the same way. It's a giant secret. Yes, there's a bonus for engagement but only the right kind, and yes, we get paid based on reads, but we get a bit more if we're boosted, and how much we earn also depends how much the person reads that month, but also there's other factors and sorry we can't tell you how they work, but trust us, we're paying you as fairly as we can. It's a beautiful opportunity and also a mess and neither negates the other. And you're very welcome
Oct 27, 2023·edited Oct 27, 2023Liked by Linda Caroll
If Medium didn't suck so bad, you would have nothing to write about on Substack.
Once upon a time, I thought Medium was a good place to write, until they put the squeeze on me for absolutely nothing to do with my actual stories...
You can develop a following interacting on Substack quicker. And Vocal has even started selling actual SHARES in its business to users. Medium hasn't done that-yet.
First sentence isn't true at all, David even if it seems that way. I hate meta posts so I don't talk about Medium on Medium. I do that here. For free. But I've been on Substack a couple of years and there's tons of older posts that aren't about Medium. And will be again. But for now, Boost is new and frustrating, so I bring the conversation here rather than meta post.
And yes, you can build a following on Substack. Building a paid following is harder. Lots of people are happy to read free. Getting paid a living wage is a harder thing. :)
I’m fairly fed up with Medium. Very inconsistent. I have 1k followers and average 20-30 views per day. Who knows many are actually reads. My income started to come back up in early September only to plummet again. So... I just write to write. My expectations are very low, though my readers (when they see it) have many positive comments on my poetry.
I know... good luck getting a boost in poetry. Those that control most of the nominations don’t really understand poetry.
Hey Bob, I'm a boost nominator and talk to some of the nommers who nominate poetry. They often get their nominations rejected (the curator declined their nomination). Believe me that we nominators are just as frustrated as you are, lol. Beyond a certain point, it feels like a lucky draw to see if we can get a nomination accepted. It doesn't matter how impressed or moved we were by a story. If the curator declines it, that's the end of it, and we're not allowed to ask why or to request an appeal, since they are too busy and cannot handle the 100 or so nommers. :(
For the two poems I did nominate, I was lucky and they were both boosted. They were both by one of my favorite poets on Medium. I'm not that knowledgeable about poetry, though, not really sure how to tell what is good--unless they are the specific kind of poetry I love. I do hope to nominate more poetry in the future, but from what I've heard, it's hard to get the poetry nominations accepted by curators, compared to most other genres. :(
Yes, it is a bias that goes to the very top of Medium from what I can tell. It seems to be much more a platform for news pieces and information, not for artistic expression. As a poet/lyricist and composer, this is very frustrating. to deal with.
The feedback that I get from those who actually read my poems (many driven by world events) is very positive, and I am an experienced writer, so I'm not willing to accept total responsibility for its failure to gain traction on Medium. I think it is an embedded bias in the platform, not in the readership as they claim.
Thanks, Bob! I'm actually just a reader on Substack, haha, my newsletter is on Ghost. The link is https://sieranlane.ghost.io if you're curious!
Yeah I wouldn't take the boost rejections personally. There are so many factors completely unrelated to your writing skill, but I understand a lot of writers feel imposter syndrome if they don't get boosted (or boosted enough.)
At least half the time, I write fiction, especially serial fiction, lol, which is arguably the least popular genre on Medium. Serial fic is very hard to boost, too, since most readers will only read the one post, and won't check out the previous chapters. I've cross-posted some of my fiction onto other platforms, and will continue to do so. But if you write stand-alone fiction that's 5+ mins long (it's hard to get boosted if you write shorter than that), then there's a chance you can get the fiction story boosted!
Thanks! If you're familiar with WordPress, Ghost has a very similar interface to WordPress, but it's tailored to blogging, and imho, it's much easier to use than WordPress. The customer support is great, too!
I wish I had some better answers-- or at least some clarity on what the long range thinking is. It feels like they're trying a bunch of things all at once and seeing what works/what doesn't. In some ways, that's fine--maybe even necessary-- but it also gives the impression that no one is thinking through second order effects.
Yup, agree Kevin. I wish they'd talk about changes more at least within the nominator's group. It's a smaller group than posting on Medium for the world to read, and they could have some semi-private discussion in the Slack group to get some feedback and let us know what's happening. It's hard to see in the dark.
There was a lot more discussion early on when the nominators were included in the Medium Community Slack. There, the nominators felt like part of the discussion, and part of the solution. It got to be too much for the Medium staffers to handle, so they gave us the boot. When they booted the nominators out of there, the discussion ended. It came back a bit in subsequent months, but it has never been the same.
I agree, Chris. It's never been the same and that makes me a little sad. Sometimes it makes me wonder if the Beta grew too fast. There's still hiccups, but there's too many nominators to field any meaningful conversation. It feels counter intuitive because the bedrock of beta testing is to get feedback. Of course, that's just my two cents worth.
I love your thought: It's hard to see in the dark.
Says SO MUCH
I just may write a poem w/ that title and submit it to Reflections! xox
"no one is thinking through second order effects." LOL ya think? You nailed it. Ongoing issue.
"3. Unboosted posts are sometimes invisible…"
SOMETIMES??? Try every time. I have 5000 followers and anything I've published in the last couple months gets about 20 views total. Medium has just turned into garbage for me. It's not even a good place to promote my Substack anymore. Pure garbage.
I hear you Kristi. Anything I write that doesn't get boosted gets crap for views. But I run 3 pubs and see a handful of people that still get views when they're not boosted. With one guy, I submitted his post for a boost and said look, this post got over 2K claps without a boost, clearly it's resonating with people and should be boosted. They declined. But the post didn't suffer the lack of views most do if they're not boosted.
I've only had one post ever that took off without a boost. The one about getting fired at 50. But even though it got a few thousand claps it didn't earn near what it would have 2 years ago. Oh well. I've made more on Substack in my first 2 months than on Medium in all of 2023 😂😂
Again this is more of your spot-on good stuff, Linda.
About this part: “Here’s what Medium told us. If a story doesn’t get boosted, don’t worry, it will still be shown to the writer’s followers and the publication’s followers.”
Based on my personal experience? No way they are showing a new story to a writers list of followers. The followers of the pub, a big nope too.
I think they do email latest posts to all signed up subscribers to a writer’s post, though. Do you agree?
Still...how hard is it to program Algo to put a new story in front of followers?
While my frequency of writing this last year is almost nonexistent, I feel horrible for frequent excellent writers watching their comp drop like a boulder.
Yup -- agree. I don't think they get shown to the followers if it's not boosted either. Whether it goes out by email, I don't know. I know some people say yes and others say no, so I'm not sure what to make of it.
Hard agree. I have 18,000 followers and am getting ~100 views per day on new stories. Nuh uh. That is not normal.
Shaking my head in…what…disbelief this problem cannot be fixed? Disappointment with the program? Disillusioned? A bit of all three and more? Yep.
Thanks for doing all this work to support Medium writers like me. I've been boosted one time, saw a tiny bump and since the change, have seen my earnings drop to 10% of what they were before. But like you, I still find Medium a great place for a writer like me. So, I hope Tony and the others in charge see your article and are able to make changes to improve things so we scribes can make enough money to at least buy coffee to stay awake and keep writing.
lol, Maureen. If all they pay us is to buy coffee, they're going to be left with clickbait and meta posts about how to make money on medium. October has been a dreadful month for me, too. I think I'm at about a third of last month.
Good point, sometimes I feel I really missed the boat on medium because I just joined early this year. I'm an indie author of fiction novels, but I love writing articles for online pubs like this. One month I made enough money to purchase ads for my books. That's kind of the idea of medium for me: put my name out there and help pay for promo and marketing...I'll hang in there for a bit more, unless I find a new site...
Same. I'm going to be using it as a sales funnel for my work soonish.
Good article, Linda. I've had about 5 articles Boosted in the last 2 months - which I'm very happy about. 😁 But … every other story of mine has gotten less than average views and reads. Every one. It seems the Boost program is the main source of distribution because my followers ARE NOT seeing my stories - they're just not. Not sure what followers are for now. I'm curious. Also, when boosted I got hundreds of new followers --- but there was no secondary effect of other stories getting more views. It's like 700 new customers came into my "store" saw the one item they came to see and left quickly without looking at anything else --- very odd. I'm happier today about Medium than I was in June but also more frustrated because I can't make sense of anything. Nothing is predictable. Like opening the garage door every morning and some days your cars is inside and some days it's in the neighbor's garage - huh? Kevin said below that they seem to be trying a bunch of stuff but aren't sure which is working. That's not scientific method - that's a marketing -- Let's throw it on the stoop and see if the cat licks it up - method. Again I like the boost feeling but lament all my other stories get 10 views and looking really sad off ibn the corner. Cheers
I'm seeing the same, Joe. I have 35K followers and posts that don't get boosted are lucky to get a hundred reads. There's no way my followers are seeing them. Last week one of my regular readers left a comment that said he's glad I'm back. But I never left. Guess I just wasn't in his feed. I have some sad ones off in the corner too, so I feel for you. The car swapping would be okay though, my neighbor has a nice car. lol
I subscribe to many writers - it makes my inbox rival the Eiffel Tower in weight and 'height' but at least I see writers like you and Linda.
Well, a little bit of Paris and lots of writers you like, not too bad. 😊
Based on my observations, those who already have a loyal audience don't suffer as much but everyday I see hi quality articles languishing with very few reads or engagement - it can put a dent in the motivation to continue writing - but then again if new members are pouring in then who cares if a few leave, right? Sigh
It does put a dent in motivation, for sure. It would be nice to find a place where we aren't replaceable cogs in the machine. Alas I don't know such a place. Except home, and no one pays me there. lol
It seems that as with training a dog, the Medium execs tend to find out after the fact that they've reinforced behavior they didn't want. I wish I had suggestions for creative solutions, but I do wish they were including Beta nominators in their discussions. What I see now is that unless one of my stories gets Boosted (and lately, none of them have although I had a very good run previously), nobody sees them. Sigh. Hope TS reads your piece.
I wish they were including us too, Jan. But apparently there's too many of us to make that feasible except on a one-on-one basis because we are welcome to email if we have issues. But sending an email isn't the same as a group discussion, you know?
Yup. But I can also see how it became too labor-intensive to get y'all together on the regular. Sigh.
That is bullshit. I actually spoke for HOURS with Buster Benson about how the algo could be fixed and how they could still drive up profits. I would have KILLED to see Medium give writers the chance to add their own personal storefronts managed by a third party. (Very doable, btw.)
Like, they know. They just do not care.
Good example, Jan. I have never been part of a company, business or group that makes as many changes as Medium and still ends up with such a large majority of members being unhappy. From a business or scientific viewpoint - you have to wonder if they are using surveys and meetings to decide their next move - or excuse the pun - a medium to see what the spirits are saying. How does a business make 6-10 major changes over the past 4-5 years and have everyone of them result in writers making less money - Unless that is what they intended for whatever reason. I think they are scrambling to drive more $$$ to the bottom line and every action is designed to do that - but Up Here where all the writers and readers - it looks like the Three Stooges are running the board room.
Linda, I saw the external view problem initially but it has seemed to go away and things are more ‘normal’, whatever that is. And that’s the problem. Those of us who write a lot on Medium have no idea what normal is anymore because the platform keeps screwing around with poorly tested coding and bad ideas. Stats are a total mess and it really looks like whomever is designing them knows nothing about UI, statistics, or what is actually useful for a writer. Instead they look like they are being manipulated to make a case for poor strategic decisions. Call me paranoid but I think Medium is screwing with us.
lol, I won't even start on the stats, though I might write about it some day. Why are there green bars that don't click to anything? The green bar shows how many views today. But can I click it and see where they came from? Or what they read? Nope. lol. Christ.
Btw, yes, Substack does better with focused subject matter. But so does Medium. When I zeroed in on my sweet spot subject-wise my earnings and follower count soared. Before that I was all over the map. Now I have three substack newsletters, none mega successes, but the earnings are gradually increasing and I love that you get paid every time a card clears. It may not be much but every day it’s likely that something will show up in my bank account. Nice source of motivation! M
On Medium, personal essays are my sweet spot, at least as far as getting paid goes. But I doubt anyone wants to pay for a substack subscription to hear about my life. Now, if I was to teach people to make money online, that might fly. Some of the self help crowd from Medium have pretty successful Substacks in the self growth/make money niche. I don't have the stomach for that. Guess it's my turn to be cynical. lol
Not so sure, Linda. Heather Cox Richardson is Queen on Substack and though well written, her newsletter is all politics from a historical perspective and a lot of it isn't a joy to read. Accurate, and on point, yes, but it gives me agita. You write from a wonderful perspective, historical or otherwise. Also some of the other biggies on Substack have a large humor slant - My Kids an Asshole (or something like that) being one of them, making the writer a lot of $$$. I think there's room for you. 🌹
I wish I could click the heart a whole bunch more times. What a nice thing to say Joe. Thank you. I should probably give it some serious thought.
An algorithm is like a Bouncer that decides who does and doesn't get in the Nightclub. Medium's algorithm is running the show. If the stats are weird - which I agree they are - then the algorithm is behind it and everything else. I had 2 days of great views on my Stat Page and 90% of my stories showed no movement. Gremlins messing about at night?
Right? I've had some weird stuff too. The most concerning part is the monthly views seem to be sliding down a little farther every month. I don't like that much lol
Medium is worth dealing with the issues, but you're right that ignoring them isn't the answer either. They've started heading in the right direction, but as you've pointed out they've still got some work to do. I appreciate your data collection on this, as I'm certain we've all felt these things but weren't sure how common they were. 💕
That's why I decided to share this, in case other people are seeing the same things and wondering if it's just them. :)
I detest the Boost program. I find that ONLY my Boosted pieces make money. I don’t have the income or inclination to bribe a nommer. Here on Substack, I niched down for the reason you gave. It’s too early to know if it’s working. I think so, though. I love Medium and I wish they’d stop screwing around with it -- sometimes I make defect money there, but the money shouldn’t vary so much when I’m consistently working hard and writing pieces people like.
Wait, are there nommers who can be bribed? lol. Michelle, you are a kick ass writer and I hope most of your writing gets boosted. My 3 pubs are very niche-y. History, book reviews and the last one is personal reflection. I have discovered that many people do not know the difference between re-telling and reflection, so we have a low acceptance rate on that one. But if any of those are up your alley, I'd be happy to have you. Just saying. And no pressure. lol. I will go check out what you're doing here on Substack. :)
Yes, I felt I was solicited by someone. I was told my piece could be boostable if I paid for that person’s expertise. Apparently, I need to be taught how to write better. The editor declined to nominate the piece after I declined to pay. It’s performing close to my Boosted pieces and is not, I think, too bad. I’m not going to submit there again. Add me to your pubs! I do have a book review forming in my mind for Land of Milk and Honey.
I think I’ve only received one Boost this month, and I publish nearly every day. Some of it, I believe, is worthy.
Hi Michelle, I had no idea that you took it that way. I was wondering why you no longer submit to Bitchy. You had mentioned you were not sure why your articles were not getting boosted. You had submitted to Bitchy perhaps a four times or so. Because you seemed distraught, I suggested you go to my website and get the free guideline on how to write persuasive essays and/or you could hire me as a coach. There is no guarantee you will get boosted even after you hire me, though.
I used to extensively edit the articles of those who seem eager or have the potential. But it was taking a toll on my day job. So I decided to advertise my service in case to people who seemed eager to learn. I didn't reject your article because you didn't hire me. Far from that. I rejected it because it wasn't good enough (in my pov) to get boosted.
I know it's hard to hear that an article hasn't been nominated or it needs improvement. I get about 10 submissions a day on Bitchy and on my other pub, The Point of View, I get about 5. Everyone wants to get nominated, obviously. I can't give extensive editing on all of them. In your case, I edited more than I usually would. I said you article starts in the 3rd paragraph and you moved it around. In the second around, the argument you made was still one sided, which doesn't bode well for boosting. I'm a nominator and by now, I kind of have an idea what gets boosted and don't.
All nominators and curators are human. With that comes subjectivity. That works the same way when publishing outside of Medium. That in no way means you're not a good writer. I've had pieces that weren't boosted but did quite well, too. That doesn't mean my or the Medium curators' assessment of your essay was wrong.
I can understand your side of the story and why you thought I was telling you to buy my service so you could get boosted. That's not it at all, though. I hardly approach people to buy my service. I only do that with those I feel are struggling (since you said you had no idea why your articles were not getting boosted). Sure, I could have edited your piece like I would a paying client, and I used to do that. I just don't have that capacity while juggling work, being a mommy to a little boy, and so on. By the way, I also said you can download my free guideline on how to write opinions. Perhaps that offended you because you mentioned you've been writing for a long time. I understand that part, too.
Anyway, I hope this clears it up for you.
Wow. June, thank you for addressing this and I'm sorry it was a public conversation. I have had writers message me to ask if I nominated their post and my policy is that I don't tell anyone which stories I did or did not nominate. It just saves feelings all around.
A story in one of my pubs took off and got over 2K claps in the first 24 hours it was up. So I nominated it. It was a good piece and clearly it was resonating with readers. They declined to boost it. I was stunned. But stuff like that happens. Good and writers get declined too. So I don't discuss what I did or didn't nominate anymore.
Thank you for replying with kindness and clarity.
No worries. I'm glad it was public so I know what happened. Good policy, Linda. I'm going to start doing that now. Thanks!
Correction: Two were Boosted this month.
A couple of my articles have turned up on something called flipboard. There have been times I've logged in and have seen 80,000 views on a story, and usually they come from flipboard. I feel okay about my work drawing in new readers. I also actively recruit to bring new memberships to medium (even without the referral bonus). The idea of incognito mode offering free reads is concerning because that seems to undermine the membership model. Like you, I think the boost problem is great and I believe there are responsible people working to make it even better. Discussions like this are part of that process.
Hey Walter -- just to clarify, incognito mode doesn't offer free reads. It just lets us see what non-members see. This is the second time this week I've heard flipboard mentioned. I should check it out. I'd love to log in and see 800 views, nevermind 80,000. lol.
Oh thank you for that clarification! The times I've had 80,000 views have been anti-climatic. I don't know if it's actual human beings or bots. It hasn't led to positive discussions or anything like that. I don't really understand the tech side of things, it's just a big number that shows up on my stats graphic for a month and then goes away.
If you figure out Flipboard, please let me know, too!
You bet. I'm going to have a look over the weekend and will share what i learn :)
I wouldn't waste your time, Michelle
I had a couple of instances of mega-views via Flipboard and thought it would be worth learning and using. It wasn't. The stuff I shared over there got crickets!
I don't know anything about the Flipboard algorithm, but it clearly "boosts" (there's thart word again) posts by certain publications to the mx, and ignores everything else.
Unless you are part of the "in crowd" there's no way to leverage it. Sound familiar??
I tried sharing one of my articles on there, but I got nothing. I don't know if it takes a respected profile to get any attention or what... Sigh, wouldn't it be nice if all these platforms were honest about what it took to succeed on them?
Come to think of it, I am simply guessing on scant evidence that subscribers receive notification of new posts. ARGH. You’d think Medium would want to fix this or at least be fully transparent, it would calm a lot of agitated waters right now. Then again, I am wearing my rose-colored glasses today…🙄
It sure would. I know there are troubles with the newsletter, but I don't know about the notification system. I read Prism and Pen and every week James talks about problems with the newsletter failing to reach readers. I don't know if that same problem affects post notification emails too. I have signed up to get email notifications for several writers, but I receive exactly ZERO. They don't reach me and I don't know why. But some people tell me they receive my post notifications. I don't know why it's glitchy, but it seems to be. So I think it's hit and miss.
I kind of miss my rose colored glasses. They broke some time ago. :)
Oh. Oh. Oh. (Cannot contain excitement here) You have given me The Best idea yet( and my friend, your awesome brain is full of good stuff) But this one, whoa! Nix the hope of earning anything through writing. I am going into the rose-colored glasses business. Drop shipping, I think. Advance orders happily accepted.🙄😭😭🌹🌹
lol. Just don't buy a program on how to make money with your brand new shopify store. Because those grifters are everywhere. I can see them much more clearly now that my rose colored glasses broke.
Rats. Reality is such a dream killer!
I've noticed that there is often a lag between me publishing and ANY views showing up. Not so long as your experiment, but sometimes 6-8 hours. That defies belief when I have 120+ subscribers who get an instant email.
I assumed it was a glitch in the reporting, but maybe not...
It's hard to know. Plus, there's two different stats. One that updates every 24 hours and one that's supposed to update hourly. So even if there is a glitch, technically it should sort out in an hour when the next update happens. I also wonder if subscribers reliably get the emails.
In my case, the answer is a resounding "no." There are 4-5 authors I subscribe to via email, and it's always hit and miss. One was so bad that I just set up an RSS feed to get their stories.
Linda,
Fascinating, thought-provoking post. I love this line of yours:
Writers are people before they are writers.
I have been wanting to better understand the metrics and payment methodology of the boost program, and this has helped. My curiosity arose because I had an article posted during the week we were taking on the banning of books. I wrote a slightly funny, slightly meaningful 2-minute piece where I focused on the bible. The piece received a lot of views and claps but only earned me $5.62. It felt out of line with reader response (but then again it was only 2 minutes)
Within the articles that I've had boosted, the range of payment has been large and didn't seem to me to always correlate with the stats. I think there's a lot they put into that pot before they tell you how much, and it's clear that I don't understand the methodology.
Bottom line: It's gobblygook to me and maybe a road paved with better intentions than results. I say this as someone who is not bitter about not being boosted because I've been fortunate there. I am saying this as someone who sees that the Boost program is not the total solution, though I don't know what is. Your piece explains a fair bit in what's otherwise a blackbox. Thank you.
Part of what I do in my day job is SEO. I explain to clients that google does not reveal how their algorithm works because if they did, people would try to outsmart it or capitalize on it. I have come to the conclusion that medium's partner program works much the same way. It's a giant secret. Yes, there's a bonus for engagement but only the right kind, and yes, we get paid based on reads, but we get a bit more if we're boosted, and how much we earn also depends how much the person reads that month, but also there's other factors and sorry we can't tell you how they work, but trust us, we're paying you as fairly as we can. It's a beautiful opportunity and also a mess and neither negates the other. And you're very welcome
If Medium didn't suck so bad, you would have nothing to write about on Substack.
Once upon a time, I thought Medium was a good place to write, until they put the squeeze on me for absolutely nothing to do with my actual stories...
You can develop a following interacting on Substack quicker. And Vocal has even started selling actual SHARES in its business to users. Medium hasn't done that-yet.
First sentence isn't true at all, David even if it seems that way. I hate meta posts so I don't talk about Medium on Medium. I do that here. For free. But I've been on Substack a couple of years and there's tons of older posts that aren't about Medium. And will be again. But for now, Boost is new and frustrating, so I bring the conversation here rather than meta post.
And yes, you can build a following on Substack. Building a paid following is harder. Lots of people are happy to read free. Getting paid a living wage is a harder thing. :)
True dat. Paid subscribers are rare in my world.
I’m fairly fed up with Medium. Very inconsistent. I have 1k followers and average 20-30 views per day. Who knows many are actually reads. My income started to come back up in early September only to plummet again. So... I just write to write. My expectations are very low, though my readers (when they see it) have many positive comments on my poetry.
I know... good luck getting a boost in poetry. Those that control most of the nominations don’t really understand poetry.
Hey Bob, I'm a boost nominator and talk to some of the nommers who nominate poetry. They often get their nominations rejected (the curator declined their nomination). Believe me that we nominators are just as frustrated as you are, lol. Beyond a certain point, it feels like a lucky draw to see if we can get a nomination accepted. It doesn't matter how impressed or moved we were by a story. If the curator declines it, that's the end of it, and we're not allowed to ask why or to request an appeal, since they are too busy and cannot handle the 100 or so nommers. :(
For the two poems I did nominate, I was lucky and they were both boosted. They were both by one of my favorite poets on Medium. I'm not that knowledgeable about poetry, though, not really sure how to tell what is good--unless they are the specific kind of poetry I love. I do hope to nominate more poetry in the future, but from what I've heard, it's hard to get the poetry nominations accepted by curators, compared to most other genres. :(
Yes, it is a bias that goes to the very top of Medium from what I can tell. It seems to be much more a platform for news pieces and information, not for artistic expression. As a poet/lyricist and composer, this is very frustrating. to deal with.
The feedback that I get from those who actually read my poems (many driven by world events) is very positive, and I am an experienced writer, so I'm not willing to accept total responsibility for its failure to gain traction on Medium. I think it is an embedded bias in the platform, not in the readership as they claim.
I will definitely be tracking with you here on SubStack.
Thanks, Bob! I'm actually just a reader on Substack, haha, my newsletter is on Ghost. The link is https://sieranlane.ghost.io if you're curious!
Yeah I wouldn't take the boost rejections personally. There are so many factors completely unrelated to your writing skill, but I understand a lot of writers feel imposter syndrome if they don't get boosted (or boosted enough.)
At least half the time, I write fiction, especially serial fiction, lol, which is arguably the least popular genre on Medium. Serial fic is very hard to boost, too, since most readers will only read the one post, and won't check out the previous chapters. I've cross-posted some of my fiction onto other platforms, and will continue to do so. But if you write stand-alone fiction that's 5+ mins long (it's hard to get boosted if you write shorter than that), then there's a chance you can get the fiction story boosted!
I will check it out. I’ve heard that I need to be on ghost as well
Thanks! If you're familiar with WordPress, Ghost has a very similar interface to WordPress, but it's tailored to blogging, and imho, it's much easier to use than WordPress. The customer support is great, too!