Medium Killed Clickbait “Journalism”
How They Did It and Why We Should Thank Them
It Has Happened to You
An article with a gripping headline reaches the top of a typical site’s “Most Popular” section. You click through, assuming its title and popularity are equivalent to its quality. You instantly realize the headline was purposely misrepresenting lame content, but by then it’s too late: The page view has been banked, a small portion of your life has been wasted, and your trust in humanity has slightly decreased.
You’re a victim of clickbait.
Don’t Blame the Fishermen
Writing a shifty clickbait headline is the easiest way to disguise bad content and still generate “good” traffic metrics. Prominent blogs and aggregators actually encourage clickbait by using an inherently flawed formula: “Amount of page views equals amount of popularity equals level of quality.” Medium is evaluating its content in a very different way, and it is paying off.
Their Solution
Medium’s “top stories” aren’t the ones that were just clicked on; They’re the stories people actually read.
According to this post written by Medium staff member Pete Davies, the only metric that Medium cares about is Total Time Reading (TTR). “We measure every user interaction with every post. Most of this is done by periodically recording scroll positions… We infer when a reader started reading, when they paused, and when they stopped altogether. The methodology allows us to correct for periods of inactivity (such as having a post open in a different tab, walking the dog, or checking your phone).”
The Burial
Clickbait articles generally yield a high Click-Through Rate, but a low TTR. Therefore, Medium’s metric formula keeps low-quality content far away from the Top Stories section; no matter how hooking the headline may be.
Medium highlights great content and rewards writers who can hold the attention of their audience. Like a never-ending election, user-submitted stories “run” for the top positions and readers “vote” with their most valuable asset: Time. While only a tiny portion of Medium’s contributors will reach the Top Stories section, the Total Time Reading evaluation model motivates all writers to step up their game, and every reader gets to enjoy a clickbait-free viewing experience.
Alex Marshi is an American writer and nomad. His bylines include Rolling Stone and Port magazine. You can read more of his work here, and check out his collection: Bob Dylan. Follow him on Twitter: @AlexanderMarshi
