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Unveiling Medium’s Hidden Metrics: A Peek into the World of Unseen Data

Have you ever wondered what lies beyond the visible analytics on Medium? Recently, I stumbled upon Medium’s less-discussed secret — the hidden story stats that they’ve chosen not to display. As a writer and data enthusiast, I was intrigued by this discovery and decided to delve deeper.
The Discreet Change in Medium’s Stats
Medium, a platform I’ve always admired for its commitment to quality content, made a subtle yet significant change. They decided not to show certain story statistics like views and reads on the “Your Story” stats page. This was a feature I, and many others, found incredibly useful. It raised the question: why would Medium hide such valuable insights?
The Power of Web Scraping

While exploring the realms of data accessibility, I discovered that these hidden stats haven’t disappeared; they’re quietly lurking in the digital shadows. However, accessing them isn’t as straightforward as a simple network request. It requires specific headers and cookies, and a bit of savvy with the browser’s inspect tool.
By navigating to https://medium.com/[Your User]/stats
with the right setup, you can unveil these unseen metrics. It's a process that may seem a bit complex at first but is quite enlightening. For those familiar with using the browser's inspect functionality to analyze network requests, this hidden trove of data is just a few clicks away. It's a testament to how much can be uncovered with a bit of technical know-how and curiosity
For instance, one of my recent stories, titled “Black Friday: The Catalyst Behind Amazon Web Services and Modern Cloud Computing,” showed these numbers when peeked into through this method:
- Upvotes: 0
- Views: 2
- Reads: 0
Ethics and Legalities in Data Access
Now, while the power of web scraping and data analysis is immense, it’s crucial to tread these waters with respect and caution. Due…