Scott ... this is Fred,
Writing, first to thank you for this excellent article that offers a great sense of 'sensible security' for good writers (like you and me hey!!).
I wanted to tell you of another annoying strategy that some writers (and publishers) have been using in recent times ... I have experienced at least four in the past month or two.
The topic is 'Mass tagging' - which results in Medium sending all the tagged individuals an automatic note telling them that they have been mentioned in a story,
Such individuals will be delighted ... until they open the article and find that they have not been really mentioned at all!
I have adopted a response strategy for this annoying feature. Below, I present a generic version of this ... (sorry for taking up so much space):
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Dear fellow Medium writer,
I received a note in my Medium-comments inbox, telling me that I had been mentioned in this article of yours, I was delighted - at first.
However, when I opened and read your article, (ready to send you a thank you comment), I discovered that I hadn’t been mentioned at all (in any real, individual context).
No! … The article had been mass-tagged along with a list of many, many other fellow-writers,
I want to suggest that this is not a good strategy, as it might annoy many of the people tagged (as it did me). They could easily think that you added them as a tag simply to get them to read the article (and thus add to your Medium earnings) ... i.e they may feel miss-led.
I'm sure that that wasn't your intention, but doing this might have a negative effect on you … readers who find they've not been really mentioned, may then stop reading you in future, and may also cancel ‘following’ you if they are already a follower of yours.
My simple advice: Don’t mass-tag in this sort of situation. You won’t be appreciated, and you will lose followers.
On the other hand, if you can find a good reason for including an in-article tag for a fellow-writer, do so, with full acknowledgement, plus a thank you to them.
That, will pay off … and you will probably get a return ‘thank you’ from the tagged individual.
Fred
PS: If I have misinterpreted your intentions, please forgive me (and let me know via a reply-comment) … I really do wish you well with your publications, and, by-the-way, I am still one of your followers!
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That's it Scott
Sorry for the extensive blurb, but its how I'm thinking and how I personally choose to deal with such a problem.
😅 😅 😅
Fred
