What I Wish Readers Knew About Vocal

Weekends bring their own disruption to our lives. Some people drink more than they should. Some stay up too late. Others impudently fall off their diet regimen. Some hook up with strangers...

And some push the limits of social media and writing platforms like Vocal.

This weekend was no different.

It brought the usual posts on Vocal that raise the blood pressure of dedicated Vocal creators and call the good processes in Vocal to question. And I totally understand!

For Example

This morning I awoke and checked the Top Stories, so that I could share any new ones (OK. OK. And also to check if any of mine have been so recognized, too!) on my Facebook Group's page (See link below). As the owner and Admin of the page I excitedly share as often as I can when one of the 3,000 members gets a #TopStory. Pretty sure I miss some, but I try to stay current. After all- even the name tells you we are about Support!

I did find one by Mike Singleton-Mikeydred, and was happy to post it, especially as the subject of the poem is so important to me and to our group. Too many of the creators, writers, and authors are in the midst of personal difficulties, some have had to stop writing as they regroup, tend to family, recover from tragedy.

I was delighted to see that the formerly-designated 'Top Story' that was plagiarized from a Ted Talk was no longer shown. (Success!) I had reported it to Vocal over the weekend and it was removed from the Top Story page.

I found out how to do that by reading the Vocal Community Guidelines:

Unfortunately, the author is still shown on the site, and the 'top story' is still posted on Vocal's Facebook page. I had suggested that someone that plagiarizes should NOT be allowed to benefit from Vocal, and should NOT be elevated on Vocal social media. Oh well- maybe they are combing through the other 49 posts that the person has posted before taking that action? (And, no- I am NOT going to call out the author. I WILL provide you a link to the most excellent TedEd talk from which the article was lifted, almost word for word. It's really most extraordinary and a fascinating subject. Once you watch the original you will understand why the copy was chosen for recognition.)

Next- I checked out the BEAT, the Community for Music artists, reviews, and playlists. I wasn't overly surprised to see that the spambots had been at work overnight. Yup- there were two stories that had posted, both written in a non-translated language other than English. This is a violation of Vocal Community Standards. Both seemed to be for some diet/health product.

Did I report it? No. My supposition is, since these were both new 'accounts' and these non-English 'articles' were their only posts, that the Vocal content mods would find them. And that is what must have happened, as they are now gone.

I DO see a new post within the past hour in Lifehack, which is a spammer's favorite as far as I can tell; it's written totally in French. There is another one, also in French, posted within the past 20 hours. It's a shame, because Lifehack is a great Community, and a cool way to dip into all kinds of interesting topics... when you dodge the spam. My guess is that the Content Mods will find and delete it eventually.

So What Does This Mean?

For one thing, it doesn't mean that I am the Vocal police. (Mama has her own job and it takes a lot of her time. I also write for the Medium platform, run a Medium Publication, and am admin for 9 Facebook groups. If Vocal wants me to be their security guard for pay, though, we can talk...)

It just means that, as irritating as it is to see obvious spam (ahem- The Hero's Journey), outright lies (The likely AI-generated article on increasing sperm count that states using a condom is a guaranteed way to make you pregnant, and yes I reported THAT 'top story') make Top Story, it happens.

Vocal implemented quicker-to-post processes a few months ago, and like any other good thing some people take advantage of it. Since I am not a tech guru I don't know what tools are available to assist in weeding out the baddies. maybe a language recognition-bot to eliminate those not written in English (just keep the UK and Canada folks' posts, OK?).

Or maybe we can all report the stories when we see them?

Now- should we have to do this? No. But we are a community, aren't we? Even if you aren't part of the (all too many) Facebook groups for Vocal/Medium writers to which I belong, we are all a community of readers.

We watch out for each other.

And maybe, if enough of us report the bad stuff, they will have the oooomph to prove that such tools are needed!

THAT's what I wish all readers knew about Vocal.

To Recap:

1. Report spammy posts.
2. Report spammy comments.
3. Leave 'hearts' and 'comments' on posts you enjoy. This one, for instance!
4. Subscribe to the writers that write the stuff you like.
5. Leave a Tip for an article that you enjoyed and/or opened your eyes to something new.
6. Share the stuff you like on your own social media and you will delight a writer for days!

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