Thanks, Hollie. I muted no one for a long time, because I wanted a complete picture of Medium.

But some things I mentioned in my longer story were badly undermining my experience here, esp. the potential libel and copyright violations; the constant self-promotions by marketers; and the large number of posts that amounted to what I see as fear-mongering or digital bullying ("You'll fail if," etc.).

It helped to make freer use of the mute button, including by muting people without reading their posts (e.g., just on the basis of a bullying headline): It gave me more control over what I see. The problem is that I still see a lot of objectionable material even if mute, say, 20-30 people a day. I'd like to see Medium do more to improve the overall quality, for sure.

Thanks so much for your comments on both the shortform and longer-form stories. I really appreciate it.