One-Year Review of Managing Medium
A Detailed Review of One Year Managing Medium or a 2019 Summary
In the blink of an eye, it has been a year since I started publishing articles on Medium. The actual anniversary should be October 2019 (first article in October 2018); but I was too busy and lacked inspiration then. As time moves forward into 2020, I’m quickly recording my one-year experience as a summary of 2019!
Review
First, I want to thank Enther Wu and Chih-Hung Yeh for encouraging me to start writing again and reigniting my passion. My early articles were more like personal daily or work notes and felt quite shallow. However, I shamelessly shared them in the community. Looking back now, those first posts seem a bit embarrassing and lacking in valuable content.
However, it is all part of the growth process. The more I write, the better I get. During the recording process, the scope of my research expands. Because I fear misleading others, missing details, or misunderstanding myself, writing articles becomes more than just recording; it turns into a deep exploration of a topic. This results in more personal growth and learning. Consequently, the quality of the content I share with others has also improved significantly.
The community has been really kind. At first, I was afraid of being criticized and losing confidence when posting; but that didn’t happen. The feedback has been very positive. Even if the content wasn’t always helpful, this positive encouragement gave me more confidence in creating and motivated me to spend more time documenting. Thank you all for the support!
Medium offers a great writing experience. If you are also a developer, you can install Code Medium, a Chrome Extension that lets you paste beautiful code using Gist directly within Medium!
Publication & Logo
Writing about life and technology, I fortunately created two Publication channels to separate them: ZRealm Life. shares life and unboxing / ZRealm Dev. shares work and technical articles,
so everyone can follow the content they prefer.
A very “Western-style” thing — “LOGO”. Should life have a sense of ritual? Since this is about building a brand, I should have my own brand identity.
So I asked a designer to help create my logo based on my concept. My design idea: the outer pentagon shape pays tribute to my alma mater’s NTUST emblem. The pentagon represents a wrench symbolizing technical craftsmanship. The inner frame with “ZR” stands for my English-translated Chinese name ZhongCheng’s initial “Z” and “R” for Realm, my territory.
Gains
To talk about gains, let’s first discuss the original purpose of writing — “learning by teaching.” It’s not to show off or to make money; none of my articles are behind a paywall. Knowledge shouldn’t require payment to access, as knowledge is power. If you like my work, please consider supporting Medium’s paid membership so that we can have a sustainable platform to use… (I’m really worried about it running at a loss)
If I talk about gains, aside from financial benefits, I have gained a lot in other aspects. First is the sense of achievement—having readers and feedback on my articles gives me a strong sense of accomplishment and motivates me to keep writing. Next is meeting many friends and having more interactions. I am a passive social person and was very unfamiliar with communities before writing articles, with almost no interactions. Now, having met many friends, I feel I am not alone on the path of development! (Just like the subtitle of my Publication — “You are not alone on the road to solving problems”).
Statistics
Since this is a review, it’s only natural to include some statistics.
In 2019 (including the end of 2018), I published:
25 articles in total: 2 lifestyle + 5 unboxings + 18 technical posts
Accumulated about 60,000 views, 5,000 claps, and surpassed 200 followers!
Articles with Better Performance Include:
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The app uses HTTPS for transmission, but data was still stolen.
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Apple Watch Series 4 Complete Review from Purchase to Mastery
Thank you all for your support and care. I will continue to work hard this year!
Your follows and feedback are the driving force behind my writing!
ZhgChgLi, 2020/01/11.
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