Curation Frustration
What’s going on?
I haven’t written on Medium for ages — mainly because of the craziness of this past year, but also because I’ve found recent changes on the platform a little frustrating. In particular…
From the beginning, curation seemed pretty opaque and a bit random.
Some of my best pieces (well, I thought they were pretty good) weren’t curated. But weaker ones were. And I was never very clear about the standards being applied to curating something as subjective as poetry.
On the other hand, I could justify the inconsistencies. “There are finite curators,” I thought, “and apparently infinite writers, all beavering away, churning out articles, essays, stories and poems. They can’t possible review ’em all. And tastes differ. Que sera sera.”
Then I started seeing more and more stuff like this — at the top of my feed this morning:
My intention isn’t to diss Dr Michael Heng; his article may be awesome.
But two typos and a syntax error in the title and subtitle don’t suggest careful curation. (In case you’re feeling as tired this December as I am: Org(a)nisation; Appr(o)ach; “for” instead of “to”.) I‘ll pass over the minor issue of what should be capitalised and what shouldn’t.
If these basic guidelines don’t matter, what does?
What I liked about curation was the semblance of quality control — something absent from every other social media/self-publishing space that I’m aware of.
Of course, this is one small example. I’ve seen plenty of others, and the balance between well-written work and schlock seems to be shifting steadily schlockwards (at least on my feed).
Time to rethink that subscription.
On a completely different note…
Wishing you a peaceful and rejuvenating festive season!
Since I doubt I’ll post here again this year, let me say: Happy Christmas, Merry Chanukah, Joyous Winter Solstice, Provident New Year, and/or best wishes for anything else you might be celebrating in the coming months — like survival!
I hope 2021 is a better year for all of us. (Including those stressed-out curators.)
Post-script
I don’t mention other changes to Medium’s system, simply because they haven’t affected me much. I’m based in South Africa, so already outside the catchment area for payment — which is what most of the recent complaints focus on.
Lastly: I’m sure if you look hard enough, you’ll find a typo or some questionable grammar in this little whinge. On the plus side, I seriously doubt it’ll be curated.
