Cover Image by author. Photo of surprised woman. Background photo.
There are only two good reasons to write anything publicly: educate or entertain the reader. That’s it. If you fail to do any of these two things, you won’t find much success in writing.
One of my most treasured habits is that I record small wins that happen to me every day. As a writer, these wins usually are in the form of people commenting positively about something I wrote. I try to be helpful and write things from experience, which usually both educate and entertain.
The more readers are moved (positively or negatively) by what you write, the more they’ll leave comments. And I believe comments matter more than people give them credit for.
A very good piece will get one comment for every 100 readers. That one comment speaks for many others. Opinions are shared. If one person thinks one way about your article, chances are, 100 more people think the same; they just haven’t told you.
Positive comments are also a great source of motivation for a writer. I would lie if I said that it’s not what has kept me going for the past 3 years. Views might be low at times, but all I really crave is that one comment that says that a piece I wrote was valuable for a reader.
“So, if comments are that important, maybe there are lessons to learn from articles who have an incredible number?” I wondered.
So I scoured the articles that had the most comments. Here they are:
Articles with over 300 comments. Source: public data on Medium.com.
These articles were found by following top writers in top tags. Before we get started on the lessons, let’s do some observations:
Many headlines focus on shattering a belief
All the headlines are assertive
Four have a number in the headline
All headlines have a clear message
Most of them trigger emotion for most people
Some are controversial
Some are about time or money
Most are about self-help
The average length of these headlines is seven words
Only two are truly original (well done Lauren Hallden and Shelby Church)
At least two are by women (I’m not sure about More to That)
Three publications stand out: Personal Growth, Forge, and Mind Cafe
2020 has the most from the list
Only one has over 500 comments
Before we do a deep dive into each of them, let’s take a moment to think about what the observations above mean.
The pie is growing
First off, since most of the articles are from 2020, I like to assume it means either of two things, or both: (1) the pie is growing, meaning there are more readers every day or (2) readers are more engaged in 2020. In a recent article by Ev Williams, CEO of Medium, he confirms the pie is indeed growing. He didn’t confirm how much, but it is growing.
Women rock
I don’t want to jump into a gender debate with this piece, but compared to other lists I found, there are more women in this one — 25 percent. For what it’s worth, and I hate generalizing, I think women are better at writing “comment-worthy” articles.
Some publications stand out
When I expand to articles with over 200 comments, the same publications stand out:
The lesson here isn’t that these publications lead to more comments, I think it means that these publications are simply better at curating articles that are “comment-worthy”.
A writer stands out
Only Niklas Göke managed to get more than one article with over 300 comments. Göke’s pieces tend to make people think, and that usually leads to people sharing their points of view in the comments, for better or worse.
Headlines are critical
Short and assertive works. Making it controversial or shattering a belief works. Having a clear message works. Having a number that relates to money, time, or statistic works.
Now, let’s explore what makes each piece stand out.
Travel Is No Cure for the Mind
Author: More To That
It takes only a few seconds of scrolling to see how exceptional this article is. The amount of effort put into it is staggering. If there was ever an article worthy of praise through comments, it’d be the one.
This piece is exceptional because of the way the story is told and because of the number of quality images dispersed throughout. The content in this article isn’t good, it’s near-perfect!
While the headline was catchy, what made this article viral had everything to do with the quality of the article.
Towards a Bra-free Instagram Experience
Author: Lauren Hallden
Catchy and original headline? Check! Engaging story through and through? Check! Fun and educational? Check, check, check!
This is creative work at its best. You have not read another piece like this one before, and that’s definitely comment-worthy. The use of images inline with the story was clever. The overall message is great if a little controversial.
What makes this stand out most, for me, is the inspiration the author got from a very simple observation. Writers try to dig too deep in their brains to find a topic when there already are hundreds staring right at their faces. Hallden simply observed that Instagram was spamming her with ads about bras.
What are you not observing currently that could make for a truly original article?
4 Things Emotionally Intelligent People Don’t Do
Author: Nick Wignall
This is very good advice from a professional about a trendy topic. Learning things not to do is sexier than learning things to do. I think the psychology is simple: it’s easier to remove something than to add something.
Wignall perfectly captures the most important things to avoid to become more emotionally intelligent. The formatting is simple and efficient. Every word is there for a reason. There’s a perfect blending of personal stories and professional advice.
The reason it got that many positive comments boils down to one thing: it was greatly helpful to the right audience.
How to Identify a Smart Person in 3 Minutes
Author: Niklas Göke
This ended up being quite a controversial piece. If you read the comments section, there’s a mixed bag of positive and negative responses. The author used one definition of the word “smart”, but not everyone agreed on it.
This led to interesting debates in the comments section. One could argue the comments are more interesting than the article itself (no offence to Göke).
You’re Not Lazy, Bored, or Unmotivated
Author: Niklas Göke
Many people feel lazy, bored, or unmotivated. Göke provides a fresh perspective as to why they’re wrong. People love to be proven wrong when it works in their favour.
Outside of that, it’s a killer title and a deeply engaging story. It offers a simple solution that’s effective and easy to understand. Readers comment about how engaging the article was, and they’re right. Göke has a knack for writing articles that keep readers hooked until the end.
And when you hook readers until the very end, that’s how you get people to comment.
You Will Destroy Yourself Financially If You Save
Author: Tim Denning
Talk about a headline that shatters a popular belief! Combine that with one of the trendiest topics of 2020 and you’ve got yourself a winner!
Content-wise, Denning backs all his claims with statistics and charts. That didn’t stop commenters from flaming the piece. I’ve never seen an article where comments get over 1,000 claps, but this one has a few of those. The debates are intense, to say the least.
The funny thing is that the more people engaged with the story by telling the author is wrong, the more the author made money from the piece, which he’s likely not saving.
This Morning Routine will Save You 20+ Hours Per Week
Author: Benjamin Hardy, PhD
What a bold promise! Before 2020, headlines like these worked incredibly well. It’s insanely hard to deliver on that promise, and so, by today’s standards, that would count as clickbait.
If you read the comments, you’ll notice a mixed bag of opinions from readers, and with reason. A lot of it is unrealistic by most people’s standards. Simply changing the headline for “could” instead of “will” would have resulted in fewer negative comments, I think.
That being said, his strategy worked and this was one of the most popular articles on Medium for a long time.
This Is How Much YouTube Paid Me for My 1,000,000 Viewed Video
Author: Shelby Church
This is hard not to click. A million views is nothing to scoff at. Plus, this raises most people’s curiosity since (1) making money on Youtube still is a mystery, and (2) we love to know how much people make.
In addition to the great headline, Church delivers on the piece by holding nothing back. She shows you all the stats and the ugly truth.
But again, this doesn’t stop people from commenting negatively, about YouTube and the author. Some claim she wrote the article to make more money. I doubt that’s true, but if she did, then good for her. Well deserved.
Summary
To get more comments on a piece, try the following:
Write short, catchy headlines that are borderline controversial, or, at least, triggers emotions for readers.
Write about saving/wasting time or money, or about self-help.
Focus on things that are most likely to yield tons of positive comments, like the first 3 on the list.
Alternatively, focus on heated topics that will create debates within the comments section.
— Danny