Medium’s algorithm for choosing stories is a puzzle to me. However, after months of observations, I have some guesses:

At first, I think you view the most trending stories (e.g., Chrissy Teigen’s first story). These are the stories everyone else is clicking on and reading through. After clicking on some stories, the algorithm starts to show you similar stories. For example:

• Stories by authors whom you’ve read their entire story
• Stories by authors whom you’ve visited their profiles
• Stories published by pubs you’ve viewed/visited
• Similar topics (i.e., health, wealth, self-help, pop-culture, etc.)
• Similar tags on stories
• Stories selected by Medium Editors
• Trending Stories (popular stories on Medium)

These are just a few to name. Of course, there are many more reasons why you see what you see on your homepage.

To date, I don’t think I’ve ever seen my story on my homepage. I don’t believe that is allowed.

As for the Q&A, I’m not sure I’ve seen the feature elsewhere on the platform. There is the Medium Help Center, where you can search questions in a database of articles published by the platform’s creators. The Q&A section on Fellowship Writers is something I created to help any Medium member.

Hopefully I’ve answered your questions.