When You Wish Upon A Star Or
A Few Changes I’d Like To See On Medium
I am no techie. It may be that some of my Medium wishes are technically impossible to implement. If so excuse my ignorance.
I am also mainly a poet, so my wishes reflect those of us in that small Medium backwater. They are probably irrelevant to those who write more mainstream articles here, If so, please ignore.
But I will send my wishes to Medium Heaven anyway. Here goes.
Most important: For poets, the power to control lines is imperative. I mean the ability to break and space lines. Simple. Left justified lines just don’t work in many cases. They are limiting and may actually change the meaning. Formatting is paramount. Please, Oh Benevolent Medium Gods, look into this.
Messaging: The current messaging system is too limited. This is especially true when trying to work on changes and suggestions with an editor, but it limits conversation with readers as well. I post my email address to get around this, but I think many are wary of using it because they don’t want to expose their email addresses. Expanding private comments to around 500 characters would help in this case.
Private responses: Is there a way to limit who sees responses? I understand that “every response is a story” is meant to enhance openness and conversation. Fine. But perhaps a voluntary opt out? After years of bad teachers, many folk are sensitive to replying to poems for fear of giving “the wrong answer” in front of the “whole class” that is Medium. I think that if they could choose to have only the author see their responses, they would be more likely to participate.
One last thing: All publications should be required by Medium to provide a contact email address. Some do, some don’t. This would allow detailed, closer, direct communication between writers and editors.
Other than these four small (I think) changes, the platform works for me. Hear my wishes, Oh Mysterious Medium Gods, and a least consider them.
Thank You.
