Shivvers… A single fact we all forget (although it can cost us direly). And what you can do to avoid this mistake…
You type medium.com into your browser and press ENTER
You are most probably in a hampster wheel just like me…
Exactly, write and write until your head starts spinning (yes, the audience-first attitude).
But you know what?
The moment you press the green publish button on Medium, your article is no longer yours.
It goes to some other place far from your control.
What do I mean by this?
Well, blogging platforms such as Medium, Substack, and other socials can be extremely useful, no doubt about it… But as with every goodie, there is a flip side.
This “dark side” is what you usually forget, preoccupied with getting more followers and writing even better articles.
In the blink of an eye, your content can be restricted. (And yes, you even don’t know what policy you might have offended.)
Corporates have legal teams of lawyers working out these policies constantly and updating them…
And then there is the author, expected to always comply with it (and stay on top of it)…
(Often times, enforcement of the policies is semi-automated, so you never get to talk to actual people behind the scenes…)
Think of it.
It’s not a fair game…
Because your content is yours only until it complies with all the rules… And once it doesn’t, all goes down the drain (no matter your followers and your efforts).…
Am I too pessimistic?
Well, that depends. What I know is that there is a “weapon” that is beyond my control that can be exercised… A kind of an atomic bomb that can instantly wipe out all my countless hours of writing on Medium.
I simply needed to change something and not keep all the eggs in one basket…
So, what did I do?
Although I continue to appreciate and use Medium and other social media greatly, I now post each article on my blog first.
Then I promote those links on my social profiles, and only then do I post on Medium/Substack.
The best part?
Now I know that a subscriber who opts in via my website is actually an asset no one can take away from me. (Unless the subscriber herself wants to leave.)
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t get banned or anything like that… And this is not an angry-ex kind of letter…
It’s just that I realized there is a risk outside of my radar…
And I needed to do something about it.
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