Why I will follow you on Medium
and why I won’t
Since joining Medium, I found it to be more rewarding than expected. Like most of us, I was looking for a forum to express myself through writing. It was a column I found by Ryan Robinson and Bogdan Zlatkov via a random Google search that led me here.
I am very grateful to anyone who has read my stories up to this point. Many of you are so good at your craft that, when I read your work, I feel like we are sitting face-to-face having a coffee or sharing a beer together.
With any on-line networking site, it is wise to use caution when deciding who to follow and who we want to follow us. This may be the exception, but I try to use some discretion when deciding who to follow. Some people have no problem blindly following other members, but some like me operate under different guidelines.
If I have chosen to follow you, it likely means I have viewed at least one of your stories, and it touched me in some way, big or small. I may read the whole story or just skim through it. I may highlight or comment on it, or sometimes not. If what you wrote is meaningful and seems to represent your true self, I will be more prone to click the Follow button.
Why do I need to read someone’s work before following them?
When we meet someone in-person, we are determining if they are someone we want to know better. If there is a connection or something in common, the conversation continues and likely goes to a deeper level. If not, we part ways with no one worse off than before.
It should be no different on social media sites like Medium. Since we aren’t meeting in-person, the stories we publish are substituting for that face-to-face contact. Through your writing, I want to feel some sort of connection where I can say to myself, “I can relate to them” or “I admire this person”. Even if I disagree with something you write, I may still follow you if there is a compelling and thought-provoking side to your story.
The only real way we can get to know others here is through the stories we publish for each other.
When would I choose not to follow someone?
There is only one firm deal-breaker. When I get a new follower, I usually open their profile and take a quick peek. If that person has zero published stories, I will not follow them back. If it appears that account was set up to blatantly sell a service or to stalk or troll others, I block it.
Getting new followers is somewhat flattering, but if there is nothing in their profile that gives me a sense of who they are through their writing, it is difficult for me to commit to them in return. True, I can view what they highlighted or clapped for, but that still is not much to go on.
It is equivalent to seeing a commercial on TV and not knowing what they are trying to sell. On Medium, our product is our stories. If there is no product, there is no customer, and therefore, no sale. It really is that simple.
If you are new on Medium, put a few samples of your work out there before reaching out for connections. Show us your product. Give us a sample of what you want us to “buy”. Many of us are pouring our hearts out here, and that is not easy for some of us introverts. We need to know that you are willing to do the same for us.
The reverse also applies. If I follow someone on Medium, I would want them to give me the same scrutiny in return. It is the least we can do to get our Medium friendship off to a good start. Trust is the cornerstone to any successful relationship, and we owe it to each other to gain that trust as soon as we first connect.
Maybe my criteria is a bit rigid, and some may think I am overly cautious. But that is how I roll, and I suspect that others hold the same perspective.
The pleasant surprise with Medium has been making connections with many wonderful people. I am in awe of the support we show each other. It feels like having personal cheerleaders all over the world rooting for each others’ successes.
Thank you to everyone for making my first months on Medium a very enlightening and enriching experience.
If you are reading this sentence, thank you for being with me until the end!
