3 Thoughts on Mediuming, June 2016
Because, why not!
Warm fuzzy first, because everyone likes warm fuzzies!
This past week I came upon a very popular, very poignant piece of fiction about a relationship. Though I usually prefer to enjoy stories on “love and relationships” during chats with my mom, this particular piece kind of blew me away. My first thought upon finishing was: “Wow. I hope the author is getting paid for this. Somehow.” Maybe she is — I don’t know. I really hope so. Because if no one’s interested in paying for that, everyone else writing in that subgenre is screwed. Anyway, I won’t say more since you really ought to read it for yourself if you haven’t already. Here ‘tis:
“The Post did not make this story up. It’s all over the net.”
Said one enthusiast of a Washington Post article recently posted on Medium. In case anyone’s wondering, I grabbed his comment from the Washington Post website. To be even clearer, I grabbed it from the major news media site, Washington Post Dot Com, where one can already visit apart from Medium. It got me thinking about why a major news media site would be posting on Medium, and I can only make a wild guess that it’s got something to do with money. It’s too bad major news media pieces published on major news media sites can’t simply remain where they originated instead of glomming up my feed. I mean, I’d much rather see pieces from those I’m actually following. Crazy, eh, Algorithm?
“Be a fan, and you’ll get fans.”
The statement basically sums up Medium. It should probably replace “Move thinking forward.” But it won’t because, well, it sounds kind of sad, doesn’t it? Pat my back and I’ll pat yours. I guess I expect more from a site dedicated to Thinking and Writing. I want to see real people, not fronts. Real people who write beautiful things but are real enough to express less beautiful moments or have the realness to write things not in sync with all the rhythmic back-patting.
Particularly for opinion pieces, which take up a large portion of Medium-space, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with not being a fan and leaving a comment to that effect. There are ways to do so with wit. If folks are going to write opinion pieces but aren’t able to take a little disagreement or defend their position, why are they writing? For the clap-on-clap-off? Enough ridiculous pieces appear in my feed — whether from major news media sites or individuals who are overwrought — that if the mood hits I think I’ll start being a bit more active in the comments section. May as well have fun with it if the stuff’s going to keep showing up! Whatever the case, I’m glad to have come across someone willing to state the situation so clearly (below). No doubt there is much patting and praising to go around. As for me, I’ll keep on lookin’ for what’s real. I’ve found it before, and there’s more out there.
(Episode One of a continuing exercise. There’s so much to Mediummm about.)
