4 Reasons I didn’t make it into the Medium Partner Program

I found Medium over 3 months ago, and that is when I started to pursue a hobby as a blogger and content creator. It became clear that this was no easy feat. As months went by, I was getting few reads and even fewer followers.

That is when I stopped caring about the attention, and I decided that I wasn’t going to participate in ‘follow-for-follow.’ I wanted to take the stress out of writing. I find that I get writer’s block when it is forced. Now I write what I want when I want. Most importantly, I try to read a lot of Medium Partner content so I can learn some tips from the best.

Here is a short list of possible reasons why I could not cut it as a Medium Partner. ***

1. I don’t participate in ‘follow-for-follow.’ I realized that by participating in such foolish games, nobody would actually read my work. If I’m just doing it for the follows, then sure I’ll follow 100 or even 1000 people. I’m not doing it for the follows! Okay, I have to admit, I did follow over 100 people — 102 people to be exact, but I noticed at that time that only 60 something of them followed me back. “What gives?” I thought. That’s when I realized that follow-for-follow only works when you can track who isn’t also following you back then taking that extra step to unfollow those people. What good would it be if all 100 of your followers only followed you because you followed them? Why take the time to write anything good at all if it’s not about the quality. Therein lies the problem with follow-for-follow. It can work, but it will only make Medium a cesspool of bad writing.
2. I stopped using stock images a long time ago. I actually really liked the ease of being able to choose stock images on Medium — at first. It grew tiresome, and sometimes I found that others were leaning too much on the pictures to improve the quality of their writing. Sometimes the pictures are just irrelevant and does nothing to improve the storyline. I really like it when people take the time to incorporate their own photos, but I find the stock images rarely do much to improve peoples’ creative work.
3. I don’t have a large social following. I do not have an Instagram or Twitter account. I actually have a great deal of anxiety when it comes to social media in general with some exceptions. I do not like the feeling like everything is a popularity contest. I know I would lose, so why play? There are some Medium Partners here who probably suck at writing, but achieved Partner status easily by sharing their Medium articles with their vast social network. To the extent that the Medium Partner Program is just a popularity contest, I don’t care to be a Partner. I worked hard for my 70-something followers, and I am thankful for all my organic growth. My organic growth is a testament to my writing — not my popularity.
4. I suck at writing. Here is the most logical explanation. I can blame it on any of the aforementioned reasons, but I need to take ownership of my failures. The numbers do not lie. My stories have gotten very little support or attention, and I have to accept that maybe I am not as good a writer as I thought. The audience has clapped, but not for me it seems. I was upset that I failed to achieve Medium Partner status, but I am happy that I joined this amazing community because it got me to start writing again. I am stale and have a lot of improvement to do, but I am happy that my work has been harshly judged as opposed to too leniently judged. Thank you to everyone that followed me and took the time to read my work. I promise to work harder at my writing and do a lot more reading!

*** Update: I’m a Partner now