Yo, hear me out! So, you write about user experience (UX) and you just started on Medium? Welcome! We are in the same boat.

The goal

Photo by Geran de Klerk on Unsplash

I guess most of the new writers heard about the “100 followers challenge” here on Medium. If you didn’t, let me tell you briefly what it’s about:

You must now reach your first 100 followers in order to be approved for the Medium Partner Program. So, people are following each other to reach this milestone faster.

This is as simple as it sounds, but there’s a catch.

Research Insights

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After reading almost 50 most recent articles on the “100 followers challenge” topic, I came to the following conclusion:

Pros

• The majority of the people reached to 100 followers or way more
• This number of followers was acquired in a relatively short period of time (1 day–1 week).

Cons

• The followers are not targeted.
• If you are writing for a niche (in our case, UX design), there’s a good chance to have an unbalanced reading time/followers number ratio, because not everyone is interested in design.
• The challenge become irrelevant without a proper reading time per article.

The Problem

If you want to take advantage of the Medium Partner Program, people need to actually be interested in your niche and read what you have to say.

As a result, following for the sake of following without being in the same niche becomes meaningless. (I tried it myself with no luck, so don’t do it; it isn’t worth it.)

Nobody will read whatever you post if they are not interested in your domain. In the long run, this method is not the best solution if you really want to do it right, because it can take you down rather than lift you up.

The Solution

Because there are no topics related to achieving your first 100 followers here on Medium, as a UX designer, I want to start this community so that every UX designer, product designer, visual designer, or anyone else interested in design can grow in a healthy way.

Sharing the same passions as someone else increases the chance of engaging with, liking, or supporting that person.

So, in this way, we increase the chances of creating real connections with real, interested people who will listen to what you have to say.

Here are the steps:

1. If you are a designer or interested in design and you like what I write, follow me, and I’ll follow you back. 👨🏼‍🎨

2. Read this story, and if you like it, clap. I’ll do the same with your stories. 👏🏼

3. Comment, and let people know that you are open to follow them, if they follow you back. ✍🏼

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the "100 followers challenge" can be a good way to quickly build a following on Medium, but it's important to think about the quality of those followers.

If you want to truly succeed as a UX designer on the platform, it’s crucial to focus on building connections with people who are genuinely interested in your niche.

By following and helping each other in the UX design community, we can make meaningful connections and improve our chances of success.

So, if you’re a UX designer or interested in design, join our community by following me, reading and clapping for this story, and commenting to let me know you’re a part of it.

Let’s support each other and grow our followings in a healthy and sustainable way. Peace! ✌🏼