The Strange Feeling of Getting Blocked by Another Medium Writer

I love Medium, but it can be an odd place to hang out sometimes

Photo by Morgane Perraud on Unsplash

There is a Medium writer that I have noticed routinely leaving multiple negative comments on other people’s articles. She’s done it to me in the past. She publicly line-edited an article of mine, leaving over half a dozen picky little comments, none of which were helpful (in my opinion) to the meaning of my story.

I have seen this writer similarly strike other writers. Today, she left what I felt was a rather tone-deaf comment on another writer’s story. I’m not getting into details because I have no interest in identifying this person. But, to sum it up, I responded to one of her comments.

I responded with my opinion. That’s all. Just my opinion. No insults. Nothing more. The end.

I had a feeling she would have a response to my response. And she did. But I’ll never know what it is because it’s disappeared forever into the Medium ether.

I did receive a notification later in the day of her response. However, when I went back later to view it, the text was greyed out. I couldn’t click on it.

I thought perhaps this was a glitch, so I went to the original article to see if I could spot it there. Oddly enough, all of her previous comments were gone from the story, including my response to her. That’s when it hit me.

I have been blocked. And sure enough, when I searched her name, this is what I saw.

Screenshot by author

So this person that leaves multiple negative comments all over Medium, apparently can’t handle one person disagreeing with them over one comment.

I don’t usually write articles about altercations I’ve had with other writers. Mainly because I don’t have altercations with other writers. But it’s the absurdity of being blocked for offering an opinion to someone that has plenty of opinions and isn’t afraid to share them that compelled me to write this and get it off my chest. (As we know, Medium is a fantastic place when you want to get things off your chest.)

In the end, I can’t help but think of the old saying,

she can dish it out, but she can’t take it.