Blogging on Medium – Part 4

6. How do I measure the impact and value of my writing on Medium.com, just beyond views and claps?

Measuring the impact and value of writing on Medium is both subjective and objective. Some numbers are more meaningful than others.

One might say that some metrics are vanity numbers while others are actionable numbers.

For instance, Views are the number of people who click on a story page. Reads is the number of people who read the entire story. One metric is more meaningful than the latter. Neither number requires action by the author.

Views do tell you you’re likely reaching the right audience.

Read more about what Medium’s stats mean when you have time.

If someone were to Comment on your story, you’d want to reply. If a reader were to Follow you, you might want to follow them. Both of these are examples of actionable items.

To dissect our question of how to measure the impact and value of writing on Medium further, we’d need to look at why an individual is writing on the platform in the first place.

Here’s an excerpt from my latest book, The Medium Quick Reference Guide, listing the possible reasons people write at Medium.

• Medium is an excellent place for new writers to go and discover their tone and voice.
• Writers are always looking for ways to polish their craft, and Medium is the perfect platform.
• Sharing your inner thoughts can be scary; some writers come to Medium for emotional reinforcement.
• Some come to the platform to get in the habit of writing daily.
• Medium can be a great place to find inspiration.
• Others come to earn an income freelancing or signing with a publisher. Or some come to make mad money.
• Some writers come to engage with like-minded wordsmiths and chat about their craft.
• Some writers come to gain a new audience.
• Some people join because they want to write what they want when they want.
• Some writers join Medium to syndicate their blogs.
• Other writers come to boost their SEO position.
• Experienced writers use the platform as a testbed for their new manuscript idea. Writing this reference guide brought me to Medium.

Once we understand why a person writes at Medium, we can better develop ways to measure the impact and value.

If readers do not view our stories, we may publish them at the wrong times or days. It may be that we’re targeting incorrect audiences with the topics we’ve chosen. Perchance, we should investigate submitting our stories to publications and be more targeted instead of distributing them through Medium’s general channel.

If readers are not reading our stories, it may be that the subjects we’ve chosen are not interesting. Perhaps the stories are too short or too long. The story headlines may not grab the reader’s attention. The hero photos we’ve picked are not drawing readers into the story.

Not publishing consistently affects an audience’s interest.

As you can see, several factors may be involved in how we measure the impact and value our stories are having on the Medium audience.

It’s best to look at each of these dynamics one at a time. Understand if measuring the values are subjective or objective, then make your best guess as to whether this item is causing the low interest.

Don’t change too many things at one time. You won’t be able to tell which actions make a positive difference.

7. How do I handle criticism, trolls, or negative feedback on Medium.com?

A little healthy, constructive criticism never hurts to improve one’s craft.

However, engaging in threats of violence and incitement, hateful content, harassment, privacy violations, reputation, personal information collection, deceptive conduct, copyright or trademark infringement, SPAM, exploitation of minors, or graphic content is not tolerated.

Take a few moments to read Medium’s Rules.

If you believe another user is violating these principles, you can submit a request to Medium’s Help Center.

Medium does give you the option to block a user if they are misbehaving.

From your homepage, click the three dots ( … ), then choose Block author.

Or, from an author’s profile page, click the three dots ( … ), then choose Block the author.

Medium and its Publications welcome thoughtful and civil discussion, so try your best not to offend.

8. How can I use Medium.com to support social causes, promote diversity and inclusion, or raise awareness about important issues?

Medium is a great platform to raise awareness about important social issues.

Don’t think of Medium as a crowdfunding platform like GoFundMe, Kickstarter, or Indiegogo.

Medium is a blogging site where you can inform and educate people.

Here are some popular social issue tags:

1. #SocialJustice: focuses on equality, fairness, and justice.
2. #Activism: focuses on social and political activism.
3. #HumanRights: focuses on basic human rights.
4. #Diversity: focuses on diversity.
5. #ClimateChange: focus on the impact of climate change.
6. #MentalHealth: focuses on mental health.
7. #Homelessness: focuses on homelessness.
8. #Immigration: focuses on immigration.
9. #Poverty: focuses on poverty.
10. #Education: focus on education.

Before you start writing, consider these tips:

1. Write about a social issue you’re passionate about.
2. Research the issue. Include relevant facts, statistics, and other verifiable information to support your story.
3. Most social problems are complex. Don’t offer simplistic solutions.
4. Use concrete examples.
5. Offer potential solutions or strategies, don’t just list problems.
6. Engage the audience when they comment. Be a good listener.
7. Report, don’t rant.