Vocal Top Creators
An Accolade That Should Be More Upfront

Introduction
I actually take notice of Vocal Top Creators in the various communities. This is something that changes slowly in some instances and seems stagnant in others. This is is just a few thoughts on how it could be simply improved and possibly get engagement for people who are designated as a Top Creator.
A Top Story can get you noticed although my Top Five most-read stories were not Vocal Top Stories at all and don't have many hearts, so obviously most of the reads were non-Vocal readers.
I would assume a challenge win would garner you extra reads as well but I can't comment on that because I have never been on a final challenge list, which is not surprising because that is just ten people out of around seven hundred thousand members.
Some Observations On Vocal Top Creators

We'll take the Vocal Beat community as an example, but as you can see from the image, the Top Creators' pictures are tiny. There is no tooltip to indicate who they actually are but if you run your mouse over a picture the link is displayed in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen and may give an indication of who the Creator is. The other option is for you to click on the image and then you will see who they are.
I am a Top Creator in Confessions and Beat and am second from the right in the image that I have shared with you. The other one that I have pointed out is the Vocal Curation Team who have published nothing in Beat since March 2021, which is two years ago, check below.
So the question is why are they a Top Creator in Beat? They are important, but obviously not in Beat. They obviously post to let us know what is happening via Top Stories but I am not sure whether Top Creators are manual inclusions or automatic.
Although I publish a lot in Beat I have not had a Top Story in there for a long time.
Ossiana Tepfenhart is the first Top Creator in Viva but has not published on Vocal for four years, that is way before I started. We follow each other on Instagram but she is not active on Vocal. Her content is excellent and worth reading (over seven hundred Vocal stories) but I am not sure why she is still seen as a Top Creator in Viva. I think she is a Top Creator in a couple of other groups as well but, as I say, no longer active on Vocal.
Suggestions For Improvements To Top Creators
First of all, pictures are big enough for us to see and a Tool Tip with the creator's name would be very helpful. I get the feeling that most people just see the Top Creators as part of the heading image rather than a jumping-off point to discover the excellent work that made them a Top Creator.
Being a Top Creator should give you at least an exposure benefit and kudos for being deemed worthy of such an accolade, but at the moment people may not even know they are a Top Creator, and even worse their audience may not know either.
I have used the Top Creator links to discover new and interesting work and hope, if you have got this far, that you either do or will do.
Conclusion
I hope that this article has given you a little food for thought and maybe told you something that you were unaware of.
Dharrsheena suggested that Top Creator status should be displayed on a user's profile as a Vocal achievement, which I think would be a great idea, and maybe encourage readers to check out the creator's work in their designated areas of expertise.
I wanted to include music that references the number one because obviously, a Top Creator is a number one, so we have "The Number One Song In Heaven" by Sparks collaborating with Giorgio Moroder.
About the Creator
Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred
A Weaver of Tales and Poetry
Join & Share In VSS
Creationati
Call Me Les ♥ Gina ♥ Heather ♥ Caroline ♥
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Eye opening
Niche topic & fresh perspectives
Expert insights and opinions
Arguments were carefully researched and presented
Easy to read and follow
Well-structured & engaging content
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme



Comments (20)
Excellent ruminations.
I find that this story is in tandem with the one I did called Vocal's Lost Communities. I don't know much about how Vocal operates or how it's staffed so it's difficult for me to judge. Like you, I can only point out the inconsistencies.
My second time reading this and they still have not added Top Creator status in profiles. Maybe you can bring this up in the next Vocal Creators Chat?
I am intrigued by this one...🤔
Interesting article. I'll have to check out these top creators
They are the Top creator cause they make the most stories in that community, that’s just my observation. My most read stories did not get top story in the past . I think there are changes Vocal are now making , to address our questions and concerns
This opened my eyes a little more to the world of Vocal. I've only been here about a year and am not 100% on navigating around this platform. Thank you for sharing and growing my knowledge on this a little more!
Good article. I agree, the pics are so tiny it's hard to see who they are without clicking. Well done.
👍
I had no idea that I was a Top Creator in Horror until you told me, lol! But beats me how they go about it as the person who hasn't posted for 4 years is still a Top Creator in Viva. Great observations!
Excellent observations, brother! Hearted
Interesting article, Mike. I notice the top creators on pages and the photos are tiny. My most read story is my first story, My Dog Skip. It was never a Top Story. I put it in two challenges. It has 208 reads. I really enjoy your stories.
I always learn about new features on vocal from your stories . You are awesome 😊🫶🏽
This was good food for thought, knowing that a lot of your most read stories were never “Top Stories”. Did that happen before or after you got your first Top Story? It's also interesting to me that you a Top Creator but they haven't awarded you a prize in any contest yet... very strange. I appreciate your insights and insider knowing as a Top Creator and am wanting to learn more from you. So I hope you don’t take my question as a challenge but more just curiosity and a hunger to learn. Fair warning, there may be follow up questions, but if you are uncomfortable with this please just let me know. As I have said before, I am simply here to learn not to criticize or intrude.
Good information! Thank you - I did not know this was even a "thing" - but now I've looked, and agree, it makes no sense.
Tunnel vision Mike, tunnel vision.
I admit to not looking at Top Creators. It seemed like something that may have been great in the early days in Vocal until the platform evolved. Still, you've given me food for thought and encouraged me to look past the Top Story page :). Thanks for sharing this Mike.
Yes! More information on that would be very interesting…. also “Creators We’re Loving” or whatever that other feature is called…. I’ve seen that section feature creators with 0 published things which seemed random. Maybe they read and engage a lot though? 🤷🏼♀️
I look at them often too, and I agree that the pictures should be bigger, they are so tiny. And Vocal should not be a top creator in any category, that's just odd. Great article, I hope they listen and revamp it a bit :)
I totally agree- either it means something and it can be improved, or it's weird and it should be improved. Improved being the common bond!