A lot of this depends on the platform/publication. Medium subscribers are READERS. They love to read. I would imagine that means they're a little more patient with a long headline, a little more eager to play along, than the population in general. It's also quite possible you are not as bad at headline writing as you think. And, to be clear: Long is not inherently bad, so much as it just invites sloppiness, obfuscation and truncation. If a headline is long AND clear AND compelling, it may be the best one. I advise brevity for writers who might be struggling with a given headline, or headlines in general, because brevity tends to force simplicity, which is never a bad thing.