Which Writing Platform Really Works for newbie tech writers in 2023 and Why

As of today, it seems that the major content production spaces on the internet have been dominated by videos, with writing often perceived as an outdated skill. However, many content creators fail to recognize that content forms that use text and images as mediums are naturally more suitable for conveying relatively complex content and thoughts. The medium of the content itself also serves as a form of audience filtering. Research has shown that audiences who read text-based content generally have a higher level of education compared to those who watch short videos. Their willingness and ability to pay are also stronger.

Therefore, I recently conducted an experiment based on the theme "Which Writing Platform Really Works for newbie tech writer in 2023" drawing from my personal experience. The results were quite unexpected. In this article, I will disclose the entire experimental process and the final conclusions. If you are a budding content creator, I believe this will provide some insights for you.

Experiment Conditions and Environment Setup

1. Selected Content Area: For the purpose of testing the platform, I deliberately avoided popular content areas such as AI. This is because I took into consideration that if I were to choose an exceptionally trending topic, it could be challenging to discern whether the traffic came from the topic's popularity or the inherent outreach capability of the platform. Hence, I chose three themes that weren't extremely popular but weren't too niche either: Over 40 with no technical background, this is how I learned HTML and CSS in 3 days, Over 40 with no technical background, this is how I learned Javascript in 2 weeks, Over 40 with no technical background, this is how I learned a frontend framework in 2 weeks.

2. Selected Content Platforms: Taking into account the writing habits of tech writers and the reading preferences of their audience, I chose Twitter, dev.to, Medium, and Hackernoon as the platforms for this experiment. These platforms are quite familiar to content creators, so I won't delve deeper into their specifics here. In essence, they all serve as platforms for distributing text and image content. Their fundamental principle revolves around algorithmically distributing content to an audience, subsequently redistributing it based on engagement data, potentially multiple times.

3. Conditions of the Experiment: I registered new accounts on all platforms, starting cold with zero followers, using identical registration details (profile picture, username, bio, etc.). I have no technical background, no experience in English writing, and English isn't even my native language. I meticulously controlled the timing of content releases, ensuring almost simultaneous publication on all four platforms. Regarding the content, over three weeks, I posted identical articles on all platforms—the three articles mentioned above. After publishing, I did not promote any of the articles myself, nor did I ask anyone to like, comment, or share.

Performance of Each Platform

1. Twitter was a platform I had high hopes for from the beginning. In addition to publishing the three articles, I was also active on Twitter in my daily routine. For instance, when I completed a course, I would post a "check-in" like this and tag the tutorial author I wanted to thank. Moreover, in the three articles I posted on Twitter, I tagged and thanked the respective authors of the referenced tutorials. At the end of my articles, I also included some hashtags in hopes of attracting more traffic. A month later, the view counts for my three articles were 75, 80, and 43, respectively. None were retweeted. Each article received roughly 2-3 likes. Furthermore, I gained six new followers in that month. Considering I started from scratch with no followers, although I wasn't extremely pleased, I wasn't overly disappointed either.
2. dev.to was a platform I wasn't very familiar with, and I initially approached it with a "let's give it a try" mentality. My conclusion now is that it's perhaps not the most beginner-friendly, with its challenges potentially even greater than writing long articles on Twitter. After a month, my Dashboard showed all my articles had "<25" views. I'm not sure about the exact number of meaningful views on dev.to, but it's likely very low, possibly in the single digits. Over the month, I gained two followers, which might not seem significant considering the time and effort I put into writing.
3. Medium was once a renowned platform, arguably the most prominent for text-image content creation. Not only does it have a vast user base, but it also boasts content creators from various domains, not just tech writers. Hence, I had high expectations for it. Reality, however, was a rude awakening. A month on Medium saw my three articles garnering only 16 views in total, which was disheartening. I received no comments and gained no followers. Given Medium's user base and influence compared to similar platforms, these results were quite unexpected.
4. Hackernoon wasn't a platform I had particularly high expectations for at the outset. I felt its user base and recognition might be lesser than Medium's. However, the results took me by surprise.

• Starting from scratch with no followers, the three aforementioned articles on Hackernoon quickly amassed thousands of views! And considering the tens of hours of read-time, it wasn't merely accidental clicks. Readers genuinely engaged with my content!

• Regarding user interaction, not only did many readers like or bookmark my articles, but they also visited my profile page to read more about me. It seemed they were interested not just in the content but also in the creator behind it. This observation is crucial. Often, for tech writers, the conversion rate depends not just on the content but on the trust and interest readers have in the content creator.
  

• Furthermore, I distinctly felt that quality content on Hackernoon receives more appreciation and resources compared to other platforms, even if you've just registered. After publishing my third article, it was immediately chosen as a Hackernoon Top Story and got translated into eight languages. For many days afterward, I kept getting notifications like "Your story is trending #X on the daily tech beat!". For a newbie tech writer, setting aside promotional benefits, the writing experience on Hackernoon undeniably surpassed all other platforms :)
  

  Analysis & Conclusions

• From my modest experiment, it's evident that text-based content still holds a significant place in today's content market. Without any paid promotion, quality written content continues to be powerful. However, with the rise of video and other forms of content vying for user attention, tech writers, whether they're building influence with substantive outputs or conducting targeted content marketing, need to set higher standards for themselves in terms of content, distribution channels, and operations.

1. For articles that are infrequently posted and relatively long, Twitter might not be the ideal platform. It's more suited for daily community interactions and the rapid dissemination of high-frequency (but relatively short) information. For longer articles, the concept of long-term tail readership—sustained readership over an extended period after the article's publication—is crucial as it determines the cumulative effect of the content. Due to Twitter's nature, there's hardly any long-tail readership. Each piece of information has a fleeting exposure, quickly overshadowed by newer updates.

2. For beginners starting from scratch like myself, a potentially effective strategy (as of 2023) for a cold start might be to disseminate meticulously crafted content on Hackernoon and then actively promote it on one's Twitter or other social media. With the right niche and topic selection, such as opting for domains even more popular than those in my experiment, your content could achieve considerable exposure in a short time, without any promotional costs. Of course, one shouldn't overly focus on short-term results, as content marketing or establishing oneself as a content creator is inherently a long-term and cumulative process.

3. For budding content creators, multi-platform publishing and experimentation are meaningful. However, due to differences in recommendation algorithms, user numbers, operational methods, etc., the challenges of a cold start for newbie tech writers can vary significantly across platforms. Some of these platforms might give you a sense of defeat early on, possibly discouraging you from continuing. It's crucial to be mentally prepared for this and have effective strategies in place.

The above is a brief writing experiment I conducted over the past month on the topic: "Which Writing Platform Really Works for newbie tech writers in 2023". If you've had similar experiences or have any opinions on my experiment, please leave a comment. I look forward to engaging with you all!