Buy Medium Comments

Responses on Medium

Medium calls comments "responses". They sit at the end of a story and in a panel readers can open from the response icon, which also shows how many there are. A story with responses looks like it got people thinking. A story with none, however much work went into it, looks like it was read and forgotten, if it was read at all.

Medium comments add responses to one story, so the response count and the response section show that readers took part.

Responses, claps and followers

• Claps show appreciation. Each reader can clap up to 50 times. See Medium claps.
• Responses show engagement: someone cared enough to write something.
• Followers show that people want more of your writing. See Medium followers.

Editors of publications, and readers scanning a list of stories, look at all three. A story with claps but no responses looks liked but not discussed.

How Medium comments work

• Copy the story link from your browser or the share button.
• Choose a package, from 10 responses upwards.
• Paste the link and check out. Keep responses turned on.

A story link looks like medium.com/@yourname/your-story-title-1a2b3c4d5e6f, or a publication link if the story is in one. Medium lets writers turn responses off on a story, so check it is on. Member-only stories still work, as long as the story is published and public.

What the responses say

The responses are short, general reactions that fit most stories: appreciation, agreement, a brief remark on the topic. They aren't written about the details of your story. Reply to them; a writer who answers responses looks engaged, and Medium shows replies in the same thread.

Prices

Ten responses cost $8. Bigger packages are discounted: 50 responses cost $36 and 100 cost $68. Every order is covered by our two-year refill policy.

Who buys Medium comments

• Writers building a following and a body of work on Medium.
• Founders and consultants publishing thought leadership.
• Developers and designers writing tutorials and case studies.
• Publications launching a new series.
• Marketers using Medium to support a product launch.

A note on the Partner Program

If your story is in the Medium Partner Program, Medium decides what it pays based on how its members read and engage with your writing, and it can ignore or remove activity it considers artificial. Don't buy responses expecting them to increase your earnings. Buy them to make a story look discussed while you build real readership.

Get readers to respond

End your story with a question, invite readers to share their own experience, or say what you plan to write next and ask what they want covered. Reply to every early response. Highlight passages that make a good discussion point. Stories that invite a response get far more of them than stories that simply end.

How many responses look natural

Keep responses in proportion to claps and reads. A story with 40 claps and 500 responses looks wrong. On most stories, responses are a small share of claps: 10 to 25 responses on a story with a few hundred claps looks like a well-received piece.

A worked example

A product designer publishes a case study on Medium about redesigning a booking app, ending with a question about how readers test their designs. They order 25 responses so the section isn't empty, and some claps. Readers who reach the end see a discussion already going, add their own testing methods, and the designer replies to each. An editor of a design publication sees the story and asks to add it.

Responses as stories

On Medium, every response is itself a short story with its own page, and responses appear on the responder's profile. That means a response section is more visible than comments on most sites: readers who follow the people responding can find your story through them. A well-discussed story picks up readers from several directions at once.

Publications and responses

If you submit to Medium publications, editors look at how earlier stories performed. A body of work where stories have claps and responses shows that readers engage with your writing, which makes your next submission easier to accept.

Keep your story tidy

Medium lets writers hide responses on their own stories. Hide anything that is spam or off-topic, and reply to the responses that add something. A clean response section with the writer taking part looks like a community, and it encourages more real readers to respond. If a reader asks a question in a response, answer it in full; your reply is a short story of its own and can bring its own readers.

Responses also help you as a writer. Read them for the questions readers keep asking and the points they push back on, because those are often the best ideas for your next story.

Before you order

• Use the link to one published story.
• Make sure responses are turned on.
• Don't unpublish the story while the order runs.

What comments do not do

Responses add comments to the story. They don't clap, follow you or affect what Medium pays. For claps and followers, see Medium claps and Medium followers.

No login needed

We only need the public story link. We never ask for your Medium login or email, and nothing is posted from your account.