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Confessions of a Curation Chaser
But it’s not for the reasons you may think
Major self-confession here: I’m a curation chaser. I refresh the tab so often I’m afraid I’ll break my computer, which is already barely hanging on. I interrupt my writing flow — literally every 4 minutes — as my mouse gravitates to the stats tab waiting for those beautiful words appear: “Chosen for further distribution.”
To make matters worse, I have a sticky note where I update the number of times a piece has been viewed. It’s pathetic, but not surprising, coming from someone who tends to look to outside sources to define self-worth. Plus, it’s just a human thing to do. Despite the advice from countless regular writers who preach not to go there, I’m still a newbie who gives in… I tell myself the“letting go” will come in time and shamelessly indulge until then.
It is not about the money for me (says everyone). I started writing on Medium seven weeks ago — one article made $17, and the next highest $3. The rest were pocket change. But that’s OK; what I care about is the number of people I touch, and curation helps with that. All but one of my articles have been curated no more than two hours after publishing, so naturally, I assumed that just happened, and I came to expect it. I’m completely aware of how vain this sounds.
