Hello? Are There Any Actual Readers In Here?

Is Medium really just writers looking for readers? I need your help to find out.

Image created by the author with Ideogram AI

Have you heard of the dead internet theory? It’s a conspiracy theory that the internet is mostly bots and algorithmically generated content used to control the masses.

While there are certainly plenty of bots, this theory is pretty easy to debunk.

There were an estimated 5.22 billion social media users around the world at the start of October 2024, equating to 63.8 percent of the total global population.

Human nature has a built-in desire for attention, purpose, and meaning, so it’s only reasonable to expect these people will post content, more than enough to feed an endless stream of new content 24/7.

But what about on an isolated platform like Medium?

A place where the best content isn’t free.

Someone recently shared an article with me about their theory that no one actually comes to Medium with the sole purpose of reading articles.

They believe it’s primarily writers hoping to find people to read their content.

Certainly, many people come to Medium just to read content. It’s one of the last pure sources of quality opinion pieces…