Medium 2016: I Can’t Wait to See What Happens Next

Medium incentivized me to write more in 2015 than I have over the past ten years, combined. It’s fair to say, without hyperbole, it has significantly changed my life in a positive way. Given the special place it holds in my head and heart, I care a lot about its future.

Right now, two particular questions are on my mind. These aren’t necessarily the two most important questions, but they are the ones I’ve been thinking about.

How does the platform handle Lifestyle Design content?

As we all know, Medium is absolutely stock full of Tony Robbins wannabes. Some of them are twelve years old. They recycle the same trash about the ideal time to wake up in the morning, etc. and are rewarded with Top Stories status. The stories that make that list are more widely read, leading to more Recommends, creating a vicious cycle that looks a lot like a cesspool in the middle of our beautiful writers’ paradise.

With yesterday’s revelation that a life-tips story written by a sixteen year old looking goober was actually plagiarized from another listicle-writer, we have jumped the shark.

But here is the deal. There is absolutely nothing I want or expect Medium to do about it. The power is ours, folks. Just don’t recommend that crap, and challenge yourself to write stronger, better, faster. The rest is out of our control.

I love that Medium is market-based. I don’t want them tweaking the algorithm to tame the lifestyle design doofuses because I might be next. What if someday they think there is too much humor writing and they cordon me off to a special section where I’m effectively back to begging my mother and wife to read my stuff? No way. Don’t mess with it, Medium. This too shall pass, dear readers.

Will writers who are frustrated with sub par stats abandon the platform?

I hope they do. Because then there will be less competition for cockroaches like me who will persist. I’ll keep writing, and then writing more, and then — you get the picture. I’m going to work through it. Period.

I’m even happy with my pieces that have meager stats; and I’m filled with absolute spiritual awakening-level bliss when a piece is widely read. It makes me a better writer — and I know there are thousands of others like me who feel exactly the same way. We aren’t going anywhere.

If you got this far, please consider hitting Recommend. To track the journey, please follow me.