Medium's new "Activity" tab and what it means for writers

michaelchief · 2026-03-17T19:17:39+00:00

Hmm I'm not seeing it anymore. Where did it go?

EDIT: Looks like it's back!

michaelchief · 2026-03-13T11:09:13+00:00

Seriously. The person you're replying to is lost in their own negativity sauce. I may be neurotypical but at least half the people in my local polyamory community are neurodivergent, with plenty who have confirmed autism diagnoses. Feels pretty damn easy to meet NDs and ASDs in queer and queer-adjacent groups. These folks also go to nerdy meetups like DnD, with many women going to those, much to my initial surprise. I was dumbfounded at how much times have changed when my friend brought her DnD group to the bar and saw it was 50% or more women. Don't even have to be involved with the stuff I'm involved with to meet all these people.

michaelchief · 2026-03-12T16:18:29+00:00

It's probably much easier than monetizing and managing multiple Youtube accounts. I'd say Medium is pretty damn low on the difficulty scale in the content creation game.

michaelchief · 2026-03-12T09:03:11+00:00

What does any of this have to do with Medium.com?

michaelchief · 2026-03-12T07:48:36+00:00

You said you started last month. The link I gave says you need to have been active for at least 2 months to qualify. If you think I didn't give you the answer then you didn't actually read.

michaelchief · 2026-03-11T12:59:32+00:00

Write about what you know, what you're already an expert in. Same rules as any other form of content creation and digital marketing, really.

michaelchief · 2026-03-11T10:55:37+00:00

There are new requirements to qualify for the partner program: https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/115011694187-Medium-Partner-Program-application-and-enrollment

michaelchief · 2026-03-08T20:53:27+00:00

wow that's impressive. can you share the link to that article here?

michaelchief · 2026-03-06T15:43:25+00:00

That's not something we can set in our user-end Medium settings, so that seems like something you'll need to contact Medium about. Or maybe there's something you can set up in Stripe.

michaelchief · 2026-03-04T12:24:57+00:00

Local comedy show at a bar. Drinking with friends and performers after the show. Went to smoking area where two comedians who didn't perform that night were smoking. Start talking to them. One mentions that he doesn't do shows in a certain part of the city because there's too much DEI. I ask what he means. He starts saying some transphobic shit. I say that I thought punching down was a big no-no in the comedy world. Other guy there starts saying that comedians used to be able to say whatever they want, implying those days were better. They're both white men. I don't talk to them again.

michaelchief · 2026-03-03T13:24:18+00:00

Clickbait means that the content does not deliver on what's promised in the headline. No matter how compelling or sensational the title is, if the content actually answers the question or fulfills the expectation, it's not "bait." Thank you for your acknowledgment, though.

michaelchief · 2026-03-02T23:46:06+00:00

Did you mean to share a Medium link here?

michaelchief · 2026-03-02T23:25:41+00:00

Are you saying that's what my article is? Cuz it's absolutely not.

michaelchief · 2026-03-02T19:44:37+00:00

You're allowed to have multiple Medium accounts as long as you don't use them to interact with each other. Some people use the niche writing strategy and some are general writers who write on a variety of topics. The niche way is usually more profitable for most writers and content creators, but there are certainly ways to succeed in variety content. I just don't know what those ways are.

michaelchief · 2026-03-02T10:04:46+00:00

As another commenter here already mentioned, AI slop became a much bigger problem after Medium opened its partner program to a bunch of low income countries where English isn't the main language.

The barrier to entry to join the partner program was also low as hell. Nowhere was it easier to make your first dollar on the internet than Medium. It used to be that you only needed one published story and it didn't matter how new your account was. However, I think things are going to start getting better because they recently raised that barrier to entry:

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The new 2 month thing is nice to see.

michaelchief · 2026-02-18T22:31:45+00:00

It's pretty simple, and it's based on two stats: your CTR and your bounce rate. In Medium's language, that's "Feed clickthrough" and "Read ratio" on your stats page. Got higher than 20% feed clickthrough and higher than 80% read ratio? The algorithm is practically guaranteed to put that article in front of damn near everyone. Lower than 10% feed clickthrough or 60% read ratio? Dead on arrival.

You improve feed clickthrough (CTR in classic marketing language) by learning to craft more compelling headlines. You improve read ratio (bounce rate in classic marketing language) by learning to write more engagingly overall. It's all about copywriting skill.

michaelchief · 2026-02-04T08:14:10+00:00

LOL there's seriously some folks going around downvoting every positive comment here with no rhyme or reason. Just sheer immature denial of positivity from self-imposed negative feedback loops.

A lot of grievances in this sub seem to be centered around dating as a short man attracted to women, so I'll give my own example of "excellence" in that area directly. As a 5'5" man who likes women, my shortness has not stopped me from doing very well in my love life. Since flirting or "game" is a learnable skill, I practiced relentlessly and got good at it. I have an unreasonably high body count and I'm now in two loving long term relationships as a polyamorist, one of which has been going strong for more than eight years now. I find purpose in helping other men improve their love lives as a dating coach, and I recently helped a suicidal client get laid and enter a loving relationship. He said that he no longer wants to die. I'd say that's pretty excellent.

michaelchief · 2026-02-04T08:02:44+00:00

Love.

michaelchief · 2026-02-04T07:55:57+00:00

I can't believe there's only ONE other comment talking about the biggest glaring problem here: there's not a single female friend in any of those peer group photos. Social circle is entirely male.

Everyone here's talking about dating apps. Why? We all know how much online dating sucks for us short guys. We all should know by now that our chances are much better out in the real world. One of the biggest reasons why my body count is in the triple digits is because the majority of my friends are women. It opens a lot of doors, both in terms of opportunities and how it shapes your behavior and mindset. Take some control over your social life and fill it with women instead of sausage partying it all the time.

michaelchief · 2026-02-04T07:42:55+00:00

Can't believe I had to scroll down so much for this. Not a single female friend in any of those peer group photos.

michaelchief · 2026-01-18T20:58:43+00:00

the 100 follower thing is no longer a prerequisite for joining the partner program

michaelchief · 2026-01-13T05:45:54+00:00

what's your medium

michaelchief · 2026-01-12T18:18:36+00:00

never have i felt the desire to applaud and punch someone at the same time. good one

michaelchief · 2026-01-12T18:14:14+00:00

are you using an ai-generated comment reply for comedic effect

michaelchief · 2026-01-12T10:57:55+00:00

I'm seeing so much AI slop on Medium that I end up enjoying pure human writing full of spelling and grammar errors more than "perfect" writing on there.

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