Do You Still Care About Curation? | Writing on Medium

I think I should’ve made this article into a listicle. “5 reasons why you shouldn’t care about being curated on Medium”, or something similar. The algorithm would’ve liked it better.

Anyway, you’re here for those reasons.

Whether you’re a new writer, wondering why your posts are not being curated and pushed toward an enormous number of readers, or you’ve been here for a while and simply want to validate your conclusion, this short post should do the trick in explaining why concerns regarding your journey as a writer or content creator should not include being selected for further distribution on this platform.

Personal experience and general aspects will guide what pops up on my list. I’ll go the bullet point way.

• Curation does not mean more views. Not necessarily, anyway. My most viewed and most-read articles were not curated.
• Curation does not mean higher earnings. My highest earner is an article that was not chosen for further distribution. It moved around the platform the old-fashioned way: several impressions, clicks, reads lead to more impressions, clicks, reads.
• Curation does not mean your article is good. Sometimes, posts of poor quality make the curation list. Medium’s editorial teams are made of — you guessed it — humans. It’s a subjective process. Even their stated criteria are vague: Does it add value for the reader? Only the reader can say. Is it honest? Are they asking for any proof?
• Curation excludes well-performing niches. Stories about Medium do well on the platform. They are not eligible for curation.
• Curation criteria limit your form of expression. I would rather say things in the way I want to say them, instead of thinking about the boxes my post would have to check to be selected by the editors.

Bottom line: While it is nice to see that one of your articles got chosen from the pile of gazillion pieces published on Medium every day, curation is not a factor in a writer’s success on the platform… or anywhere else.

Write what you like, how you like it. The right readers will find you.

Thank you for reading.

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This article was originally published on an external platform on April 26, 2022.