How I Was Maliciously Censored by Right Wing Media for Arguing That Women Should Be Leaders
Plus, some new tips for getting Medium's Boost
Hello friends!
It has been a busy few weeks and I’m scrambling to get my head back above water. For the last 3 weeks, I was in Lima, Peru. My wife’s parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, and I expect I’ll be writing about that on Medium shortly.
Speaking of that, you can click here to subscribe to my work on Medium. I’m curious to get some data on how many of my various emails that get sent out end up in spam folders and whatnot.
I spent last week teaching a Medium course with
. It was a really fun experience. I’ve been reluctant to offer classes in the past for a variety of reasons. I appreciate all the support I get from my writers, and I want to make sure anyone who takes a class gets enough value to make it worth the cost.Pairing with Kristina was an ideal option. She is a wonderful hostess and she handles all the technical side so there aren’t any issues. As for me, my computer always seems to wake up grumpy, and no matter how much coffee I pour on the motherboard, its mood never seems to improve. I’m responsible for getting my microphone and my camera to work, and except for one day when the camera glitched, I succeeded.
Last month, Medium seemed to transition a little harder than usual. It seems like every month I have to adapt my writing to fit the new format. Usually I figure it out in the first couple weeks, but I couldn’t quite find my stride in July. It could be that I was on vacation so my head wasn’t really in the game. The number of Boosts went down (for me), but my reads went up, so I hit my earnings markers. I’ve braced myself for lower earnings in August, but I do that most months so I can be pleasantly surprised.
I have added a few ideas to my “Boost checklist.” As an inside joke, let me put them in bullet points:
Make sure to fill out the Alt field in the images
Don’t over optimize your titles
Include links to some outside sources
Alt field
You find the “Alt” field by clicking on an image. It shows you this:
Then you click on the green “Alt text” link and you get this:
This allows you to provide a description of the image. I’ve been making a point to remember to do this for every image. You probably don’t have to go into the detail that I did in the example above. Then again, the more words for search engines to find, the better.
Don’t Over Optimize Your Titles
This concept came up during our class. Remember that headline analyzers are useful tools, but you need to still exercise good judgement. I compared it to allowing a GPS to drive you right off a cliff, or into a lake. You can’t just do what you’re told without question or you’ll end up with word salads.
Medium allows you to use headline analyzer tools, but not headline generators. So, if you get a title that sounds like it was generated by AI (even if it wasn’t), you’re not getting boosted. Lately I’ve been making a switch to more natural sounding headlines and my Boost rate seems to be correcting.
To put it more simply, you can aim for a headline score around 70. You don’t have to try for the high 80s.
If you’re interested, here’s my referral link for CoSchedule. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).
Include a few supportive links
I’m also finding I’m having better luck lately when I include links that support a couple key data points in my articles. What Medium seems to be looking for with Boost is an article that’s part personal narrative and part academic paper. You have to write something that’s entertaining, and which also provides your reader with one or two nuggets of new and useful information.
So, if you make a bold claim in one of your articles, make sure you link to an external source that supports that claim. You do not, however, have to write a huge works cited list at the end.
Getting Censored by Right-Wing Media
On Saturday, I was pleased to receive the notification that my most recent story for Cultured was Boosted:
Boosts have been a little harder to come by, so this was a relief. However, on the same day, I received a notification from a social media platform (that will remain unnamed), that the link I’d shared to this story “violated community standards.” Some people follow me through social media, but as of this writing I’m no longer allowed to discuss this story on some platforms.
So, you tell me, what community standards are violated by an argument that women make excellent leaders?
Also, if those are the standards of your community, maybe it’s long past time to change them.
I posted about this on Substack, and a few of my followers mentioned that they too had received that notification for posting links to my work. I must be shadow banned on social media. I always suspected that was the case.
But really, this example is ridiculous, especially because the image is a cartoon about censorship. There’s nothing wrong with the question “Do you think a woman can lead?” The problem lies in the fact that we have to ask it.
Fortunately, Medium is on the right side of history. They’ve BOOSTED this story, and it’s performing very well:
Note that this one did not get Boosted until day 3. The earnings are through the first 3 days, and they haven’t calculated that big spike on day 4, so that’s always exciting. I haven’t seen if this one was trending yet. Keep your eyes on the chart, it might show up tomorrow (fingers crossed).
Boost publication looking for writers
I received a message from the editor of Thirty over Fifty. It’s exciting news because she’s looking for writers and she’s a Boost nominator. If you’re new to Medium, this is a wonderful opportunity. Here’s her message:
"Thirty over Fifty" is a publication for engaging and supportive writers aged 50 and over to regularly submit stories that are well written, varied, interesting, original, memorable, and highly supportive to the general reader. Please read the content guidelines before applying to be a writer. "Thirty over Fifty" is in the Boost Nomination Pilot program, and Grace can suggest high quality stories in her publication for boost. You can check out the stories in her publication which have been boosted, on the page titled ‘Boosted Gallery.’ If you're looking for a Publication that aims to inspire and uplift others with personal stories or stories containing a personal element or credential, please consider working with Grace Mary Power from Thirty over Fifty"
Please do that, she’s great!
There’s lots more to say, but…
I’m sorry that I haven’t had a chance to write my zebra unicorn serial for a week. I promise I’ll get to it this month.
Here’s a little teaser, the title for chapter 3 will be (drum roll please…):
“How 9 Patriarchal Asshats Tried to Turn the Princess Into an Uncompensated House Servant”
My daughters will giggle at that. When I have a moment, I’ll have to tell you about the comment thread from two trump supporters who found my zebra unicorn serial. Ha! I should have taken a screen shot, but instead I just blocked them. Here’s Chapter 1 again if you want to prime yourself for what’s to come (remember, you can unsubscribe from my serial or politics sections without having to leave my newsletter entirely).
That’s all for today, please make sure to leave a comment! Engagement helps me get new readers, and I greatly appreciate having the opportunity to write for you!
Reading your stories is a pleasure and a privilege! Thank you. 😊
Any social media platform that censors an author because they suggest women could be and already are great leaders is up shit creek without a paddle.
I’ve been paying close attention to who regularly writes, reads, and follows on a variety of topics on Medium’s topic list. I noticed that if I checked the number of people who clapped and the number of people who commented on a story, more were women than men.
Keep in mind this is the Topic.
Walter you are a rare bird, a man who writes, reads, and comments. There are others some very influential men of course, but I am talking about proportion of response.
Women are already leading in reading, and responding, and for many publications doing the editing and nominating for boosting.
I noticed that the teeth and the copper knuckles came out on the right after women organized the protest against Trump’s election to the Presidency in 2016. It wasn’t just Hilary Clinton that they wanted to lock up.You supported their enemy in your article, so they had to shut you down.