I just did a full 360 on my Medium article feed. I was scrolling through suggested articles from top to bottom, and lo and behold some of the same recommended articles came up again.
My current feed is so much like a ferris wheel. Round and round and round and round again.
Oh, I guess this is a common occurrence. This article talked about the repeat feed already two years ago. Though I must say this is not a regular occurrence. Most often, it seems I constantly get new stories based on my followed authors, topics, and publications. Maybe it’s just the way the algorithm spews out stories — sometimes only a few matched stories or going to come up. This also happens with other types of feeds at times. Channels play the same films over and over, radio stations seem to only stream four or five songs in the “top 40 lineup,” and our brains often reel through the same thoughts and patterns over and over again.
Maybe we expect something like a zipline ride(properly seated, enclosed, and safe for many of us perhaps). You start on one end and ride for a long distance to the other, and you constantly have a whole new array of scenery unfolding before you. And goodness knows we hardly ever even begin to take in even a small portion of any reality in the universe.
But then again, is there ever enough times one can peruse, read, reread, and review a piece without gathering new insights? The same is true when you go on a ferris wheel(to return again to the early analogy). Every time going up and down allows you to further absorb the sights, sounds, and wonders you only capture a fleeting glimpse of for each time around.
An additional consideration is that the Medium feed shows articles before you have even clicked on them. So it’s not like you have even reached the articles yet and have begun to savor their riches. And just like you may not notice a real wonder until the second or third time you pass it while walking, driving, or on the ferris wheel, sometimes with the wealth of articles available on Medium you might not spot a real wonder until the third time.
And if you don’t have time to read each article in your feed, isn’t it nice you can add them to your bookmark list for later? I’ve built up a bookmark list of thousands of articles. Some I have yet to read, others are just calling my name for a reread, and others I could visit yet again for yet another reread and review to gather yet even new riches.
