avatarMartin French

Summary

The web content expresses frustration over the limited eligibility for Medium's Partnership Program (MPP), advocating for its expansion to more countries.

Abstract

The author of the web content is consistently disappointed by the stagnant number of countries eligible for Medium's Partnership Program (MPP), which currently stands at 33. Despite the inclusion of major economies like the US, Canada, and Japan, the MPP excludes populous nations such as India, Brazil, and those in Africa and Central and Southern America. The author questions the rationale behind this exclusion, especially given that Stripe, Medium's payment processor, supports a broader range of countries. The article suggests that if there is no valid reason for the limited access, Medium should consider expanding the MPP to include talented writers from these unrepresented regions, which would be both fair and beneficial for the platform.

Opinions

  • The author believes there must be a reason for the limited MPP eligibility but is dissatisfied with the lack of transparency from Medium.
  • Initially, the author speculated that Stripe's country restrictions might be the cause, but this theory is undermined by Stripe's expansion to more countries than those covered by Medium's MPP.
  • The author humorously suggests unfounded reasons for the exclusion, such as a personal grudge or preferences, to highlight the absurdity of the situation.
  • There is a call to action for Medium to either provide a valid explanation for the exclusion or to expand the MPP, especially in light of Stripe's broader service coverage.
  • The author points out that including writers from the excluded countries could potentially rev

MEDIUM

A Happy Medium for All

Expand access to the MPP to all, or explain why not

Every now and again I have another look to see how many countries are eligible for the Medium Partnership Program. And every now and again, I am disappointed to see it has not changed. Thirty three. Most of Europe, the US, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Singapore. But not India. Not Brazil. Not Malaysia or anywhere in Africa. Not even the Korean Republic.

I ask once more of Tony Stubblebine and Medium Staff why?

It isn’t that I don’t believe there is a reason. I am sure there is one. And if I knew what it was, I would either shut up about it, or help to change things, depending on what the answer was. I would really like an answer though.

I have been asking one for a while now, every few months. I have yet to get an answer. I appreciate that there could be an extremely good reason for it. Call me demanding, but I would like to know what it is. And my friends in those countries would too.

Initially, I thought “this is a Stripe thing”. That it could only work in countries where Stripe was accepted.

From the Stripe website, taken today — Screenie by author.

That seems unlikely now, as Stripe covers 47 countries in some way or another. I think it covered 44 when I started writing about this, but that may or may not have included the preview nations. Whatever, it has access in the UAE and Brazil and Hong Kong, unlike Stripe. It is still lacking when it comes to Africa and Central and Southern America, but it is at least covering a good 14 more countries than Medium currently does.

So why not? Maybe the Secretary of State has prevented them. Perhaps someone in government in these countries is preventing them (though Brazil looks to be on the verge of changing).

But we don’t know, so perhaps Ev had money on Brazil to win the World Cup in 2014, and is upset about it still. Maybe he doesn’t like Indian food and excluded a subcontinent on that basis. We don’t know.

So maybe, if there isn’t a good reason that explains why we haven’t seen Medium including some of these folks, then we ought to see people from at least other Stripe eligible nations allowed to join the MPP. If there is a reason, fair enough, but if we continue to see no good reason offered, why not? We should start including the great writers from these places and Africa as people who get paid what they deserve. It’s the fair thing to do — it is the right thing to do.

If stories of the platform losing members is true, it might just give Medium the boost that it needs to start expanding again.

Rather than self promote, here are some of the writers outside the MPP and one of their works. There are so many, they deserve to be paid for them.

TzeLin Sam

Uwem Daniels

Flavio Musa de Freitas Guimarães

Lucas Dawn

Medium
Medium Partner Program
Fairness
Writing
Expanding Access
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