How I Pick What I Read on Medium

Every reader here has a criteria for picking what they read because of personal reasons. Sharing how we select may help everyone, including the authorities that manage the platform.

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I am not a random reader but some people are and it is their choice. I have a pattern I follow when I choose what to read online and even when I go to the physical library at school.

The reason I am sharing these points which are personal, is to give some hints, so you can understand why I read or don’t read your articles. I am sure you also have reasons why you read or don’t read mine, which I would love to know.

If every writer could know the preferences of readers and their reasons, some writers would intentionally twist their writings to suit what readers want to read. True or False?

In fact, it is a thought that often flashes through the mind when writing on Medium. “Will readers be drawn to this?” We often have this thought as we draft an article.

I have seven key reasons to click on your article and read. If I often read your articles, these reasons will resonate with you.

Firstly, I read articles of writers I have subscribed to read from when they publish. When I get that notification email I go straight to read what they have published. I don’t subscribe to a lot of writers. I choose carefully. But if I do make the decision to subscribe to your writing, I will read every thing you publish.

Secondly, I read articles from writers who are active in my Medium circles. By Medium circles I mean we often interact with each other in comments on their stories or mine. I am naturally drawn to read what they write.

Thirdly, names of writers easily attract me to read their writings. This criteria may feel strange or discriminatory to some people but it matters to me. It’s just human to want to check out what someone like you is doing.

For example, I am quick to click on an African name like mine on Medium because that is my origin and I naturally want to bond with others who come from there. African names are easy to discern. I always want to read what they have to say.

The same applies to content about Africa. If your title is xxxx in Africa, I am very likely to take the bait.

Other names of writers may attract me for other reasons. Chinese writers easily appeal to me too because of my attachment to China. On the other hand, names of writers that are purely ads for business for example www.xxx.com or the name of some software, don’t appeal to me because I feel like it is aggressive advertisement which I dislike.

The fourth criteria is the title of the article. I like titles that stir up questions in me. For example: “Why I Don’t Want to Get Married.” I don’t like titles that summarize the opinions of the writer. For example: “I Don’t Want to Get Married Because it’s Too Expensive.” There is simply little or no reason to read further.

The fifth reason is article length. Extremely short articles turn me off and I usually just scroll through and move on. The first impression I get (which can be wrong) when I see a 1 or 2minute article is that, it lacks points and deep explanations of points. It’s probably because of the teacher that I am. I like things to be thoroughly explained and justified.

I read lots of long articles and I also have the habit of leaving very long comments because I want to react to several points discussed in the article. With extremely short articles I may leave a sentence in the comments if I really read it. Most long articles (7–15 minutes) I have read on Medium are excellently written with a lot to take home. I usually save some for further consultation.

The sixth reason I read an article sometimes is because of its popularity. I go there to see why. If the article is having hundreds of comments then there is definitely a reason. The problem I have with extremely popular articles is that I get drawn to the comments more than the article itself and in many instances the comments are actually more interesting.

Now I have a question about this point. If I go to an article and stay there reading the comments without actually reading the article, does it count as a read from Medium’s perspective?

I did this a lot prior to the recently held elections in USA. All those Trump, Obama, Harris topics, I used to just skip to the comments to see what people had to say.

The seventh reason I may click on a story and read is what I once called in one of my articles, “Resurrecting Dead Articles.” It is an attempt to give life to an article that was published long ago and has received little or no form of engagement. I do that as a gesture of support to that writer because it doesn’t feel good when you burn the midnight candle writing an article just so it dies without any attention.

[embed]Resurrecting Dead Articles Every Medium user has at least one dead article buried under the pile of more popular articles. You just have to click…medium.com

There you have it. Those are the factors that usually influence my reading choices. I understand how different they are from what other readers think and that is actually the point of this article. Let us know how you pick what you read on Medium. Is it a totally random pick or you have a pattern?

Thank you for reading and share your thoughts in the comments.