How to Get Fans (people who clapped) of a Medium Article

Using Medium API JS Package

Introduction

Knowing who engages with your Medium articles can provide valuable insights into your audience. By fetching the fans (users who clapped for an article), you can understand your readers better and even tailor your content to align with their preferences.

Here’s a straightforward way to achieve this using the medium-api-js package. By the end of this guide, you’ll know how to retrieve the list of fans for any Medium article.

Prerequisites

To set up and execute the code:

• Node.js Installed: Ensure you have Node.js installed on your system. You can download it from Node.js.
• Medium API Key: Obtain an API key from Medium by signing up on RapidAPI and subscribing to the Medium API.
How to Subscribe to Medium API and Get Your API Key from RapidAPI Platform
• Environment Variables Setup: Use the dotenv package to store sensitive data like your API key securely.
• Install Dependencies: Run the following command to install the required packages:

npm install medium-api-js dotenv

• Article ID: Identify the ID of the article whose fans you want to retrieve. This can typically be found in the article’s URL.

Code Explanation

Below is a breakdown of the code used to fetch the fans of a Medium article.

Step 1: Import Necessary Modules

import Medium from 'medium-api-js';
import dotenv from 'dotenv';
dotenv.config();

• Medium: This is the main class from the medium-api-js package that allows interaction with Medium’s API.
• dotenv: Enables the use of environment variables stored in a .env file.
• dotenv.config(): Loads the environment variables from the .env file into the application.

Step 2: Initialize Medium API with API Key

const medium = new Medium(process.env.RAPIDAPI_KEY);

• process.env.RAPIDAPI_KEY: Fetches the API key securely from the .env file.
• Medium(): Initializes the Medium API client with the provided API key.

Step 3: Specify the Article ID

const articleId = '67fa62fc1971';

• articleId: A unique identifier for the Medium article whose fans you want to retrieve.

Step 4: Fetch Fans and Log the Response

medium.getArticleFans(articleId).then(data => {
    console.log('Article Fans:', data); // Output the fans of the article
});

• getArticleFans(articleId): A method provided by the medium-api-js package to fetch fans of the specified article.
• .then(data => { ... }): Handles the promise returned by the method and logs the response containing the article’s fans.

Running the Code

Save the code in a file, e.g., getArticleFans.js, and run the following command in the terminal:

node getArticleFans.js

Ensure that the .env file is properly configured with your API key:

RAPIDAPI_KEY=your_rapidapi_key_here

Output and Explanation

When the code executes successfully, the output will display the details of the article’s fans:

• id: The ID of the article whose fans were fetched.
• voters: An array of user IDs representing the fans who clapped for the article.
• count: The total number of fans.

In the sample output, the article has 143 fans, with the voters array listing their IDs.

Potential Use Cases

• Audience Analysis: Understand who is engaging with your articles to target similar readers.
• Personalized Outreach: Use fan data to reach out to engaged users for collaborations or feedback.
• Content Strategy: Analyze the audience’s preferences to refine your writing style or topics.
• Engagement Metrics: Track the growth of your article’s engagement over time.

Summary

Fetching fans of a Medium article is an excellent way to gain insights into your readership and engagement levels. By using the medium-api-js package, this process is simplified and efficient. Implement this code to unlock deeper connections with your audience.

For any questions or clarifications, feel free to reach out at nishu@mediumapi.com.