News: Medium Has Lost Its Way
By: August Birch
Tags: Medium, Marketing, Life, Life Lessons, Writing

News: Medium Has Lost Its Way

Prepping for a giant loaf of white bread in my future dashboard

Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash

Medium has always maintained a ‘no clickbait’ policy as long as I’ve been a member. But somehow they’ve lost their way in the basic human behavior department. The latest change in distribution is likely the large reason most of us have lost reader traffic overnight.

This is a change all Medium writers must be aware of.

In yesterday’s story from the Medium blog, this article digs deep into their ‘clickbait’ policy. And overreaching it has become.

The actual definition of clickbait is to use sensational, misleading language to encourage a reader click a link. This link leads to a video, story, or ad that has nothing to do with the text in the link. Medium’s new stance appears to take this to such an extreme level that all basic copywriting strategies will soon be in question.

Hence, prepare for a whole pile of stories with titles that read like the owner’s manual for an ’86 Oldsmobile.

Medium is cracking-down on the distribution and curation of stories with titles they deem as clickbait. I’d argue to say this could include any title that would actually grab your reader’s attention.

I mean we’re talking (these are direct quotes from the story above):

Is the title trying to exploit a reader’s personal worries, insecurities, or emotional state?

Is the title or story image more provocative than the content of the story merits?

Is the title over-reaching or over-promising with hyperbolic claims or absolutes that are not verifiable?

Is the title withholding important context; misleading the reader; or using clichés, gimmicks, or cheap language?

At the surface these all sound like improvements. But this list is a direct gateway into shutting-out some fantastic, creative titles that encourage readers to open your content.

Good writers understand this.

As writers it’s our job to encourage people to open and read or content.

If your title doesn’t tickle the reader’s emotions and place an unanswered question in her mind, she won’t open your story. Period. This isn’t about lying or deception. I’m not advocating actual clickbait. This is about creative wordplay in order to continue the dance with the reader.

Creative titles are a dance readers welcome.

We want to be amazed. We want to open stories with unanswered questions. Nobody wants to read a story with a title “How to Turn a Discarded Stuffed Animal into a Dog Toy.” Bo-ring! But you can bet she’ll open “A Free and Clever Way to Entertain Your Furry Friend With Household Waste”

This second title is not clickbait. It’s copywriting. And there’s a Grand Canyon’s difference between the two.

The story would describe exactly what the title promised. But it would fail Medium’s test. You can’t infer your reader’s emotional state (don’t you dare say this is clever. It’s now only your reader’s decision to decide it’s clever). You can’t use ‘cheap language’ (which could mean anything), so the ‘household garbage’ bit is out too. We probably can’t say ‘furry friend’ either, because someone might get butt-hurt that humans could possibly be friends with an animal.

I’m worried.

I realize this is an extreme take on their clickbait stance, but the requirements are so overreaching almost any interesting title could tumble into the rejected net.

When faced with a glut of over-choice and ever-changing content, the reader will choose a story that strikes her core emotions and wants. A title that stirs fascination. A title that begs to be clicked to find out the answer to an unanswered questions.

Our brains are hard-wired to close open-loops.

Following Medium’s new direction of ‘reader engagement’ and super-wokeness, the home page is about to be wallpapered with white bread and saltines. The most-popular stories are soon to be the ‘stomach flu’ diet of content.

…and it gets better.

This new change in reader engagement now says it’s OK for writers to ask readers for claps and feedback. This has been a no-no forever. Since we don’t get paid for claps anymore, it’s now OK to ask for cheap, forced replies from readers, but we can’t give them a compelling reason to open the story in the first place?

There is some light, however.

I don’t want to leave you with a total rant and not end on a high note. Medium’s new changes apply to their distribution standards-only. This means you can still use any title you wish (and get paid for it). This is the path I choose. But if you want your story curated for broad distribution outside your following, be prepared for white bread and saltines.

I hope our stories don’t come to this, but at least you’re aware.

We’re waiting for you.