I’m sorry Medium, I’ve been ghosting you for a while now. I’m hearing from friends that you’ve changed — a lot since we took a break.

I’m not sure that I know you anymore, you’ve changed in ways I never thought you would. Guess it’s going to take some time for us to get to know each other again before I know if I want to invest in this relationship.

It’s always been one-sided, you didn’t even miss me when I sort of faded away, did you? There are always so many bright-eyed hopefuls who come by daily eagerly reading the multitude of “How To Make Money Writing For Medium” articles that fill my feed no matter how I change my preferences.

The three reads you allow the unsubscribed are just a tease, you hope that is enough to get followers to spend that paltry $5.00 @ month. After all that’s only a couple of coffees, maybe not even one coffee at a coffee bar. Surely supporting fellow writers is worth a coffee, right? Since most writers would love to be paid for their work, it is only reasonable that they would want to invest in a platform that some earn from, and very few use to pay all their bills.

I must ask since this platform has a global reach, why is it that not everyone is able to participate in the payment algorithm? Why are talented writers from countries unserved expected to pay to play without the hope of ever being compensated for their work? Wouldn’t their participation enhance the platform?

Other platforms have no problem paying writers from those countries. I imagine that is why they chose to publish with them. I enjoy reading about other cultures, and perspectives, not everyone has first-world problems. Seriously, a lot of people in first-world countries do not have first-world problems because they are too busy surviving. Those people would not be your target audience, understandably so.

But I must wonder, how can a platform which finds its most profitable articles to be those giving hints on how to make money on its platform survive?

Maybe that is just a small slice and I need to dig deeper to find stories that make me want to care enough to want to pay to read more. But then, if said author is making 3 times what I do perhaps they are doing just fine. After all, all those articles on “Making Money On Medium” claim large payouts without me participating.

News stories I can find with ease, those that lock their content I pass by for those who support their enterprise with advertisements. It’s only mildly creepy when I am bombarded with ads for the last item I bought or searched for. I understand that they are necessary, and I appreciate the choice that for a fee I can remove the ads.

Really anything that is on Medium can be found in other places. What made Medium special, to me anyway, was the diversity of voices. The days when anyone could start an account and choose if they wanted to put their article behind a paywall, choose to post the friends link freely, without having to have 100 followers. What is the deal with 100 followers? How does that encourage new writers? How does having 100 followers prove anything?

I’m sure there are solid, logical reasons for the changes you’ve made. It’s not you, it’s me that needs to change. And I feel much better after this vent.

See ya around Medium.

I haven’t been on Medium much, and I’m pretty sure no one has missed me. Have I missed Medium? Well, yes and no. Yes, I miss reading interesting articles and exploring new authors' ideas, but a funny thing happened.

There are other platforms besides Medium.

There are a dizzying amount of new, old, refurbished sites, and holey apps.

I’ve been so busy reading that I haven’t been writing. I’m glad there are so many places a person can publish. For the reader, this is beyond exciting, and since all these outlets need content it has to be exciting for authors/creators too.

Places for serial fiction writers, Fellowship & Fairydust, Stary Writing, 10 more.

Plus there is social media, Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, and censorship-free video sites.

This is not a comprehensive list — search engines are awesome. Whatever your passion is, you will be able to find like-minded folks to share with.

If you are new here, looking at that 100 follower rule and wondering if Medium is worth the effort, (it is if you are writing on a computer), there are tons of places that are happy to publish new writers. Type in “best publications for new writers” in the Medium search box and go from there.

Hint —incogneto views don’t count towards the monthly allotment.

Good Luck and Happy Writing!