Is Medium going the way of MySpace?

When Medium started in 2012, the concept was brilliant. The alternative blogging site launched by Twitter co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone successfully built a community for readers and writers. But, like all good things that start out pure and simple, the muck has started to build.

Initially a by-invitation-only site, Medium later opened up to allow anyone to post just about anything. And it now is used by about 17 million people a month, including President Obama.

On it, you can read gems of inspiring stories, poems, essays, even the State of the Union Address. And it’s a brilliantly executed tool: easy enough to use so writers don’t have to fuss much with formatting and where readers can scroll through and follow content organized by topic rather than author.

And, frankly, it isn’t intimidating: You don’t have to be a writer to post anything; you just have something to say.

So far so good. After all, an online forum for content you would otherwise never know about is a great tool to create connections.

But like the good intentions that started MySpace, with the good, you have to also take the bad. Opening it up to anyone to create content is a great idea, but it means you have to accept the fact that you’ll also get content creeping in that has its own agenda.

As MySpace morphed into a giant content dumpster dive of suggestive and naked selfies and parasitic advertising, Medium’s posts are becoming freckled with content that threatens to become more toxic to the site’s health.

Click baiters

It didn’t take long for capitalism to worm its way onto pages. These authors are the worst because they rob you of something you can’t get back: your time.

They write attention-getting headlines and promise inspirational content (“7 things you should do right now to improve your life”) only to generally sell you on their workshop, their book, their whatever.

They are simply using Medium as their sales platform to drum up interest (and Ben Franklins) in whatever they’re selling.

It’s a free forum for doing so, but please alert me first so I can skip the stuff that winds up in a sales pitch at the end. Mark it “advertising” like traditional media do or, if nothing else, “annoying,” which it is.

It’s all about rankings

Other than the above mentioned, you can’t really make money on Medium. Because you’re basically guest blogging, you give up control of your content so there is no monetization potential there. But that doesn’t mean the concept isn’t practiced.

On Medium, it’s about more than just posting; it’s about getting followers, somebody to like and rank your stuff. That means, if you really want people to read what you’ve written, you have to network, in a way—like and recommend others’ posts, comment, follow them, highlight points in their posts, and hope they do the same for you.

So instead of focusing on writing, authors obsess over rankings.

Maybe I’m old school, but I just like the idea of writing something prophetic and posting it on the site for anyone to read. Not then turning around and having to sell your soul so it can be seen.

Stop with the ‘fucking’ headlines

The shock value of swearing in headlines isn’t lost on me. When I see it, it makes me stop and take a look, like seeing a dog on its hind legs in the supermarket.

It was one thing when it was used once in a while to mirror the vibe of the piece. Problem is, many authors have figured out that it also gets readers’ attention, so they insert a “shit” here, a “fucking” there and throw in an “asshole” for good measure on anything from angry poetry to a piece about buying furniture.

It feels like it’s not necessarily for authenticity, but just to get readers, likes and rankings.

Is there hope?

I still tune in to Medium from time to time; I even link to it from this blog. But much like the rush to MySpace in the early 2000s to its mass exodus after 2009, I’m starting to drift from it.

Sure, you could argue they aren’t making the operational and technological mistakes that befell MySpace. My hope is that the growing sales pitches don’t take over to define Medium as the T & A and cheap ads defined MySpace.

I love the community, just not sure the neighborhood is what it was meant to be.

In a creative rut? Try a little noise, alcohol & napping

In a creative rut?

You’re not alone. Ad Age reports that 75 percent of us believe we’re not as creative as we could be. Why?

Data show the majority of us say that employers’ focus on productivity limits our ability to be creative. But that’s only part of the story. It’s also the way we live and work.

There’s a reason Google and Pixar didn’t go with the traditional flourescent-lit boxy cubes. And there’s a reason (or two) Ernest Hemingway drank a lot.

Creativity is one of those things that comes from within but can be drawn out with the help of external factors like our environment, what we eat and drink and what we do every day.

10 ways to reclaim your creative mojo

If you’ve ever found yourself just staring at the hypnotic blinking cursor on a bright, white screen, you may not be sleeping enough—or drinking enough.

Here are 10 things you can try to break up the creative block:

1. A little noise goes a long way

There’s a reason why the coffee shop has become the satellite office. Contrary to a longheld belief that you need to be confined to a silent workspace to be most productive, ambient noise  (mid-level background noise), such as that in a coffee shop, is better.

I once worked in an office environment that piped in white noise. We hadn’t really thought much of it until the day it had to be shut down for repair. Rather than a welcoming silence, the absolute absence of noise was astonishingly distracting.

The key is finding the right balance of noise. Too much noise—ringing phones, constant chatter, co-workers interrupting your work with a play-by-play of last night’s game or their kid’s soccer match—is just as disruptive as complete silence. The sweet spot is somewhere in between.

2. Stare out the window

Contrary to what you may have been told by your third-grade teacher, daydreaming is a surprisingly productive use of your of time.

Some of my best revelations came during my 45-minute commute, staring at the tiles in the shower or out the window in an office that overlooked a daycare playground.

Bored at work? That can actually help, according to studies that have shown boredom frees up your mind to daydream.

3. Don’t separate work from play

Why do we do that? The old adage “work hard, play hard” doesn’t mean you work hard over in this part of your life, then play hard in another. They should be one in the same.

Sure, we get office envy from those who work in spaces defined by slides, video games, hammocks and pods (thanks, Google), but there are other ways to bring play into your work.

I once worked in a newsroom where we used cheap Nerf guns, among other things, to blow off steam. While, many times, it felt more like a frat house than a workplace, it was also a hub of creativity.

Rather than penalized for it, “goofing off” was part of our work responsibilities because it made us more creative writers.

At some point, corporate America came to the notion that having fun meant you weren’t actually “working.” Then, the tide and philosophies turned and managers tried to reinfuse, and sometimes schedule, “fun” activities (aka “forced fun”) into the workplace. It just doesn’t work very well that way. Having fun is an organic process, rather than an agenda item.

4. Turn down the lights

Being in the dark isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The typical flourescent lighting in an office isn’t just providing a harsh blue hue, it could be killing your ideas. Dim lighting does more than create a low-key vibe, it can also boost creativity.

Why? Because it apparently “elicits a feeling of freedom, self-determination, and reduced inhibition.”

5. Pop a cork or brewski

I wouldn’t want Ernest Hemingway to drive me home, but he was onto something when he went on a bender. That’s because alcohol helps broaden our “imaginary horizons.”

To you cynics, I’m not throwing this one in because I grew up in Wisconsin. Sure, I had a stash of Miller Lite (don’t judge) in my desk while an editor at my college newspaper.

But I’ve also worked on a team that had some of its best insights after work over a pitcher of beer and plate of totchos.

Alcohol impedes our memory and ability to concentrate on tasks, which is why you don’t want to drink and drive. At the same time, however, it helps loosen up our minds to wander more freely.

While you wouldn’t go this route while filing taxes, it does have its merits when trying to break down inhibitions and find creative solutions. Or, as Ernest Hemingway said, “Write drunk, edit sober.”

6. Eat this, not that

OK, I’ll state the obvious. Garbage in, garbage out. That’s why it’s hard to come near an egg McMuffin and hash brown square, a breakfast perfectly manufactured to addict us to its smell alone.

But then there’s that processed food-induced stupor after eating it.

You can actually eat your way into creativity by trying some of these foods:

• Complex carbs (to keep glucose streaming through your brain all day long): whole grains, quinoa, oats, etc.
• Fatty acids: chia seeds, walnuts, avocados, coconut oil, etc.
• Berries
• Green veggies like kale, broccoli, spinach
• Green tea
• Dark chocolate (helps boost blood circulation to the brain for up to 3 hours)
• Proteins like eggs, chicken (high in protein and tyrosine, which helps produce dopamine, which helps keep you alert)

Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food who spoke of this in the documentary “Food, Inc.,” puts it simply:

1. Eat “real” food, as opposed to “food-like substances”
2. Not too much
3. Mostly plants

7. Surround yourself in blue

Can a color really affect how you think?

It comes down to red vs. blue. Computer screens with a red background, for instance, boost performance on analytical tasks like memory retrieval and proofreading. Blue computer screens, on the other hand, improve your ability to complete creative tasks.

Researchers theorize that red unconsciously motivates us to think more deliberately and analytically because it’s associated with things like stop signs, emergency vehicles and danger.

In contrast, blue is associated with the sky, ocean and peace and tranquility —things that influence a more free-flowing and exploratory mindset.

8. Raise the roof

Higher ceilings promote higher creativity, according to a University of Minnesota study.

In contrast, working in rooms with lower ceilings give you a sense of confinement, helping you focus on details.

So, if your work revolves around spreadsheets, do it in a low-ceiling red room. But if you’re writing or coming up with the next big idea, a high-ceiling blue room would be your best bet.

9. Put down the coffee and take a nap

There’s a reason why toddlers have wild imaginations. And it involves just shutting down at least once a day.

Dr. Sara C. Mednick, author of “Take a Nap! Change Your Life” and assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, found that napping boosts your creativity.

10. Take a hike (or at least a walk)

But napping during the day isn’t always practical. Alternatively, you could go for a walk.

A 2012 study found that after only four days of immersion in nature, a group of hikers showed a 50% improvement in their cognitive functions related to creativity and problem solving.

The results were even moreso when they coupled the walk with turning off their phones.

Unplug and take a 10-15-minute walk outside each day without texting, talking on the phone, surfing, checking your social channels. Seriously, your buddy’s political rant or sister’s selfie isn’t that urgent.

How do you do it?

What’s your secret to breaking out of a creative rut? Exercise? Cat videos? Please share yours.

What are your employees reading on your intranet? It might not be what you think

I think serving up content on a corporate intranet is a little like serving dinner. You have to balance the nutritious with the delicious—the stuff readers need to know about with what they want to read about.

Are they eating your words?

After poring over analytical data over the years, I’ve learned that knowing what your readers gravitate toward helps inform how you present content that might be “drier” but important to know.

You have the lighter stuff (aka “fluff”)
On an intranet, this equates to the content that’s not necessarily life or death but needs to be posted. Think: the changes to the cafeteria’s hours, the open house over in the XYZ department, the reminder that your W-2 forms are on their way.

Not many readers pay attention to the fluff, until it’s absent from your intranet. Then they wonder why you didn’t tell them about that certification course or professional conference four months away.

There’s nothing wrong with publishing this type of information as long as you have a way to “weight” it differently than the more strategic content so it doesn’t muck up the real estate on your intranet so badly that the two compete. By placing less emphasis on these items, you’re helping direct your employees’ eyes to the bigger stuff.

Then there are the veggies of content
These are the more important things your employees need to know, need to engage in to help support your company’s goals. For instance, it might be telling how your company performed last quarter, your company’s five-year plan or its new strategies moving forward.

We know we should consume this content, but doing so is about as much fun as chewing on an old turnip. This kind of content may contain good information, but it can go too long and too dry in a hurry and probably is seasoned with a bit of (sometimes too much) corporate jargon.

And, of course, the dessert
This is just an irresistible piece of decadence. These are the nuggets that your readers can wrap their heads around, can relate to. Inspirational stories of their awesome co-workers, engaged teams, community outreach and the like. This is where they essentially spend a great deal of their time because it’s content that tugs at their emotions, making them feel proud or happy.

So how do you make chocolate cake from an old turnip?

Sitting in a few employee focus groups a few year ago to get feedback on a corporate magazine we were publishing, I heard it but wasn’t surprised. When asked what type of magazines they read in their leisure, these folks didn’t volunteer Newsweek, Cosmo or National Geographic. They most often mentioned People—known for its short stories written about celebrities, inspirational “regular” people—and the Kardashians.

When asked what parts of the company magazine they enjoyed most, it wasn’t the longer stories of industry news or the items defining corporate strategy. It was the people. One woman remarked, “I just flip through and see if there are any employee names I recognize. And, if I do, I stop and read it.”

Intranet analytics data supported that for digital content. For instance, we had far better readership and engagement on a regular feature we ran on the intranet showcasing a different job each month and personal stories from some of those who performed that job than we got on quarterly performance metrics stories.

So what’s the solution to giving readers what they crave while feeding them what they need to know?

• Understand what they’re reading: Your data should show you where they’re gravitating. A side-by-side comparison of these content types should give you a good idea of what’s working and what’s not.

• Rethink how you tell your story. Are you offering a new service to your customers that’s pretty amazing? Don’t just tell readers about the service. Tell them about the customer—how he or she is personally affected, how it’s changed lives. That old adage about everyone having a story is true. Everyone does. You just have to be deliberate about telling the story of authentic customer experience. Also, think about telling it in video instead of text, which can be more seductive to audiences.

• Skip the jargon, please. Sometimes corporate-speak is another way of saying, “I really don’t know how to articulate this, so I’m going to throw in some $5 words to make it sound like I do.” Readers just want to know, in plain language, what your company is doing, what it is planning. Get to your point, use examples, make it meaningful and something they can relate to.

• Headlines are everything. Keep them short, to the point, interesting. We’re inundated with information all day long. Scanning is our survival mechanism. If your headline doesn’t stand out, your content becomes that tree falling in a forest with no one around to hear it.

• Get their feedback in real time. One of the best things you can do with an intranet is to allow “liking” and commenting on news items. It not only promotes interaction, it gives you great information on how employees are engaging with your content, rather than just skimming it.

• Numbers don’t lie. Keep measuring, whether that means analytics or reader feedback. Sometimes, you have to try a combination of things to get your readers’ attention. And, while it takes a while to figure out which combination(s) work, your data will help with that, as will focus groups.

Shelby Nicolaus-Dunski is an experienced intranet editor, storyteller and passionate hunter of content that really kills it.

Are you Rick Grimes or a Walker?

The difference between good writing & bad

Rick Grimes or Walker? Depending on the day (and what you did the night before), you may feel like either. But when you’re writing, you’ll want to aim for the former.

Why? Because if you’re not fighting for the top of the content heap, you’re simply doing the sorry zombie shuffle. And, in today’s reading world, it’s survival of the fittest.

The Apocolyptic Battle For Readers’ Attention

There are plenty of Ricks out there. They’re attractive, alluring. They draw us in with an addictive nature that often makes us do things to seek a relationship with them. We buy, we subscribe, we feel emotionally connected.

But for every Rick, there are at least 10 Walkers, mucking up our world. Their cold, empty words make us turn and run, drop off a page or filter or delete their unwanted emails.

As writers, it’s funny how we try so hard to break through the white noise and, in the process, may inadvertently create walker-type content.

And it happens for a lot of reasons, the least of which may be because we’re bad writers. Sometimes, we’re trying to please a client or a executive who has watered down our work; other times, we’re trying to squeeze too many SEO words or key messages into our writing without thinking about how the resulting content resonates with our readers.

 

5 Ways To Kill Your Content

So how can we keep our content from becoming a shell of what it could be? Here are just a few ways writers unknowingly kill their content.

1. Ignore your readers.

You might think the most important quality in a writer is the ability to write. I think it’s the ability to have empathy. To put yourself in your readers’ shoes.

Before you write anything, you should be asking yourself, “What is my audience interested in? Is it this? And, if so, am I writing it in a language they understand?”

For example, like other companies, Surly Brewing Co. has included its philosophy statement on its website, but it does so in language that resonates with its customers. To paraphrase, it states:

We don’t make beer for everyone. Beer for everyone is beer for no one.

Our philosophy? Make great beer. Have fun. Give a Damn about your community.

Really, our philosophy is better poured than spoken or written. So, go Find Surly beer and get all philosophical.

Now, I want a beer.

2. Go on and on and on.

We often talk about the “wall of words” that happens when articles drone on, forming large (and many) paragraphs containing every little detail.

Fashion consultant Tim Gunn often reminds designers on “Project Runway” to edit themselves. And like a gaudy dress embellished with too many fabrics, colors and buttons, sometimes writing can contain too much of a good thing. Some details add important context to a story, and there are others that are just nice-to-knows and some that aren’t even that.

Take a good, hard look at what you’re writing and ask yourself whether removing a word, sentence or paragraph would affect its quality and accuracy and remove it if it doesn’t.

You can also break up your text with shorter paragraphs, easy-to-scan subheads and bullets.

3. Use 3 words when 1 will do.

Like details, general wordiness is exhausting to read.

• For example, when you write: “Due to the fact that” rather than: “Because”
• Or how about: “In some cases” rather than: “Sometimes”
• Then there’s my favorite, the redundancies. “Totally unique,” as if there’s a somewhat unique. Nope, just unique.
• Or, we can be “connected together.” Is there a way to be disconnected together or connected apart? Probably just connected would work.
• Added bonus, current status quo, collaborate together, blend together. I could go on but won’t for the same reason I can’t slowly drag my fingernails down a chalkboard. If you’re into that kind of self-punishment, Grammarist has a great list of redundancies.

Fewer words. Easier reading.

4. Bury the lead.

Studies show that readers generally drop off after the third or fourth paragraph. According to a Chartbeat study, more than half of readers spent 15 seconds or less on a web page (about a third spent that amount of time on actual articles).

A recent Microsoft study demonstrating the human attention span dropped from 12 seconds to 8 in just the last 15 years shows you need to grab your readers’ attention up front—and fast.

So saving your good stuff until the end is like not including it at all. Often, bits of reading treasures—the kind that make you think “Aha!” or the real crux of story—are hidden in the seventh or eighth paragraph, when they should be promoted to the first or second.

5. Lack a point.

If you don’t have a good, solid reason for writing something, your audience won’t have a good, solid reason for reading it. Likewise, if you have a good reason for writing something but don’t convey it in your writing, you’ll get the same reaction. Why should your readers care if you don’t?

Good writing has a point, a goal, and drives straight toward it. Bad writing has no direction or too many.

These are just 4 examples; there are many more. It’s not easy to gain traction in today’s world or, as novelist Nathaniel Hamilton put it: “Easy reading is damn hard writing.” But it’s well worth it in the end.