I Get 10X More Reads on Quora — This is why Medium needs to change…

Quora’s algorithm gives new writers exponentially more reach than Medium.

Over the past 30 days, I’ve received over 600 views on Quora. On Medium, I received around 60. This doesn’t mean that Medium isn’t good for new writers. But there does seem to be a discrepancy.

On the whole, it is much harder to gain traction on Medium in 2024 than it was in previous years.

There are a few contributing factors that I believe are contributing to Medium’s seeming inability to surface new content to readers:

1. The Deluge of AI Content: The widespread use of ChatGPT has inundated Medium with repetitive, generative content. While most readers can recognize the difference between a thoughtful human article and an A.I. article, the rub is that A.I. content is 10 times more efficient to produce. Human content is left to compete with AI content that can be rapidly produced.
2. Deprioritization of Discovery: Compared to a platform like Quora, Medium is explicitly following-based. While discovery is a part of the Medium algorithm, content from writers you already follow is far more likely to be surfaced. This is a double-edged sword. It is harder to gain traction on Medium, but your content is more likely to reach your followers.
3. Recency Bias: Content on Medium doesn’t seem to stick around for long. Once an article is past its first few days of life, it almost always disappears into the abyss. Unless you strike SEO gold or have a viral hit, Medium heavily biases recency. By comparison, Quora’s “related answers” feature and preferential treatment by the Google algorithm give good content reach for much longer.

In spite of all this, I think Medium is still a good platform for online writers to consider.

However, it should be part of a broader content distribution strategy. X, SubStack, LinkedIn, and Quora are all worth serious consideration. My personal approach is to follow Nicolas Cole’s steps described in The Art and Business of Online Writing by focusing on writing great Quora answers and then redistributing them through other social blogging channels.

Yes, AI has made finding readership tougher.

But writing on these platforms is still worth it in 2024.

Because writing is still worth it.