I did an unintentional experiment. I have a few stories waiting in publication queues so I haven’t had any new releases on Medium in a couple of days.
Each time we publish something new we show up as “new from your network” on the Medium app. Our networks are those who follow us and those we follow.
Also, each time we publish something new, we spam the crap out of Facebook groups we’re involved with.
My stats have dipped way down on the days I haven’t released new stories, even though I’ve been active inside all the Medium Facebook groups. The posts I’ve shared on Facebook are older, previously written ones.
This leads me to believe it’s our followers who really bring value to our Medium journeys, not Facebook. I’m sure Facebook and other social outlets help, but I don’t think they’re the actual key to success. It’s just a small percentage of success.
I’ve also been watching some of the big, Medium-run publications and one thing I’ve noticed is that most of the writers in those pubs are ones I’ve never heard of before. Meaning, they’re not part of Facebook groups, yet they’re still earning thousands of claps on their articles.
I’m active in five Facebook groups and have never seen some of these names pop up.
I’m guessing it’s because they’re writing for huge publications and earning followers ON Medium, not on Facebook.
What’s the takeaway?
Well, it brings me right back to something I wrote back in June, about Medium being a SOCIAL platform as much as it is a writing platform.
You can read that article right here, if you feel inclined:
If you think you’re failing at Medium….
That’s all for today! I just wanted to share that little piece of insight since it was kind of an A-Ha moment for me.
Happy writing!
Kristi