Elevating Our Digital Interactions
My Honest Reaction to Your Request To Read Your Work on Medium
The Unspoken Rules of Requesting Reads on Medium
I mostly cringe whenever someone asks me to read their work on Medium.
It’s no secret. You can read about it here.
But a wise man once said,
“Everything must be said again since no one was listening or paying attention.”
The wise man I’m referring to is Austin Kleon and the above quote is from his book — Steal Like an Artist.
Thus, I’m repeating myself and sharing a perspective with all those requesting me or anyone else to read their work.
This is a reminder to myself, and others.
Let’s go…
# 1 First Interaction
In the online world, only a handful of people spend time engaging with me and my work.
It means most first-timers who comment and request me to read their work are strangers.
With 100s of daily notifications, comments and interactions, it is impossible to heed everyone’s request.
Besides, less than 2% of the people ever reach out again.
This repetitive experience has trained me to avoid such requests.
It makes the whole interaction feel shallow and meaningless.
#2 Tit For Tat?
Reading your work doesn’t automatically mean you’d read my work and vice versa.
Neither of us is doing the other a favour because we’re reading based on our interests.
I found your article headline meaningful and intriguing, meaning it deserved a click.
If not, I won’t find you.
We are all adults and if you expect that I should return the favour then you are barking up the wrong tree.
# 3 Your Requests Lack Clarity
Here’s a recent request by one of my readers👇🏾
What does it even mean?
“Check out my latest post when you can.”
What is the reader expecting from me?
- Should I just take a look?
- Is he asking me for a comment? On what? His writing style, structure, tone, content?
- What’s in it for me?
- What is the outcome you are looking for?
How do I engage without knowing? It feels like a waste of time.
In the past, I’ve written full-blown articles to respond to questions some of my readers have asked me.
Comments like this make me feel as though I’m supposed to do the heavy lifting even though someone is requesting me for feedback.
This feels as though the other person doesn’t care about my time, effort and energy.
Rather than making it easy, they are making it vague and unclear.
I’m sorry but if you lack detail with your ask, I’ll lack detail with my response because I don’t know where to begin.
#4 Limited Resources
How often do you come home having completed all your tasks for the day?
For me, I can barely count a handful of days when I’m able to finish everything on my task list.
Even when I put in enough effort, I have a limited amount of time, energy and attention.
If I start giving it away to everyone who asks for it, I won’t be able to write and show up like I do.
It would mean you won’t find me in the first place.
By lacking clarity in your ask and by asking me to read your work during our first-ever interaction, you are being disrespectful of my time apart from being inconsiderate.
It’s not that I don’t want to read your work, I want to do it organically. It means you need to lift your game just like I need to.
This applies to me as much as to anyone else. I want to be respectful of the other person and their space.
Why don’t you tell me, what’s your first reaction when someone asks you to read their work?
