Medium's Comment Notification Issues: A Writer's Dilemma
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Chapter 1: Not Receiving Comment Notifications
Have you experienced issues with comment notifications on Medium? It appears that the platform may be encountering glitches, potentially impacting writers' earnings.
Recently, while reviewing my published articles, I discovered one with over 13 comments that I hadn’t addressed! This is quite significant considering I make it a point to check my comments at least twice daily.
Upon further inspection, I found another story from the following day with three or four unanswered comments, and a few others also had similar issues. However, some of my articles from this month seemed unaffected.
This situation raises a pressing question: what about my older pieces? It’s unrealistic for me to monitor every single story regularly. I genuinely want to respond to every comment, yet Medium is making this increasingly challenging.
This seems to be just another one of the glitches reported this month, coinciding with a notable decline in views and reads. While I’m trying to avoid a negative mindset, here are a few other issues I've encountered recently:
- The clap feature is now uniformly black across all stories, regardless of whether they were read or not. This can lead to confusion, causing readers to mistakenly believe they've engaged with the content.
- The reading time is no longer visible unless the story is opened, which deters readers who prefer shorter content. Consequently, they may click away without engaging fully, further reducing the read ratio for everyone involved.
- Now, the notifications for comments are absent. This is critical since comment notifications are a significant driver of views and reads. Without these alerts, it’s easy to miss interactions, resulting in fewer responses and less engagement with other authors’ works.
While I can’t definitively say there’s been an algorithm update, these three issues alone could significantly reduce costs for Medium at the expense of writers' earnings.
Is anyone else experiencing similar challenges on Medium? Do you think the platform is intentionally creating these glitches to minimize payouts?
This situation reinforces my decision to begin writing on Substack. I’ve shared my thoughts candidly about Medium, which you can read here: [link to Substack article]. Thanks for taking the time to read this!
Yana
Section 1.1: The Impact of Glitches on Engagement
It’s evident that these technical problems have far-reaching implications for writers.
Subsection 1.1.1: Reader Behavior and Content Visibility
As readers encounter these glitches, they may alter their engagement patterns, leading to a decrease in overall visibility for writers' works.
Section 1.2: Exploring Alternatives to Medium
Given these ongoing issues, many writers are contemplating alternative platforms that prioritize creator support.