Chapter 1: A Sudden Follower Decline

On May 26, 2022, I experienced a shocking event on Medium that left me bewildered. In the early hours of the day, I found myself down over 1,000 followers and had lost track of more than 2,000 people I was following. Previously, my following list consisted of approximately 3,000 individuals.

Did anyone else face a similar situation? Did you receive a notification about this issue? I certainly did not! Although I lack screenshots to confirm my follower count, I assure you that I regularly follow many users daily, up to the 50-person limit Medium enforces. As it stands, I now follow only 1,245. It’s perplexing to lose such a significant number of followers overnight without any apparent cause.

Upon checking my account today, I was astonished to see just 237 followers. After adding one person who followed me earlier that day, my count increased to 238. I suppose I should feel fortunate that my follower count didn’t drop below 100, as that would have resulted in my removal from the Medium Partner Program. Such a situation would mean no article metering and losing the opportunity to earn revenue unless I could regain my followers.

Was there an overnight purge on Medium? Does anyone have insights into this phenomenon? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Perhaps it was merely a glitch—let’s hope so! If the issue is resolved, I’ll be sure to update this article.

UPDATE: Shortly after posting, it appears the glitch has been rectified, as I noticed my follower count stabilizing on Medium. Has anyone else encountered a similar experience? I can finally breathe a sigh of relief!

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