Are You Fed Up…

With the tinkering?

I am.

And I’m not alone. I normally would let this go or wait it out, but I have been waiting for weeks, and things aren’t improving.

Let’s talk.

If you, like I am, are an established Medium writer, especially one making more (sometimes much more) than $100 a month, you might have noticed that all the mindless, and to my mind foolish, tinkering with Medium has resulted in a rather shocking drop in stats, with the resulting slash in earnings, such as they were in the first place.

Look, I am in that top 2–3%. I earned twelve bucks last week. Woo-hoo. I didn’t fundamentally change my writing. I write daily. Engage, comment, connect. I have been that doing all along. That’s how I got where I got to that point. Where I was, that is.

And I am buttf*ck tired of being told by Medium newbies that this is the way to build a following. I did that already. Some seven thousand folks, and upwards of 60k views during a typical week.

Twice I had to build that back up this year due to Covid and the summer holidays. Fine. I’m patient.

Not now.

Like others, I’ve written in.

Crickets.

I’ve spoken to editors. Top writer status, gone. Editor status, gone. AND readers, gone, AND income, down the drain.

People struggling to run a publication. You gotta ask, what on earth is the point, if you’re getting punished for putting your heart into what you love?

I can’t speak for anyone else but it’s become achingly clear to me that first, whatever is happening at Medium IS NOT about the writers.

Whatever is happening at Medium IS NOT writer-friendly, especially those of us who research and write solid content, have (had) loyal followers, and were rebuilding yet again after two previous big blips earlier this year.

What, did millions of folks stop paying? If that’s the case, how about you let us know, which is helpful, and chances are, we’d likely understand? It’s a Covid thing. We get it. Folks having a hard time.

Unlike too many of my fellow Medium folks, those who are not professionals, and I draw a line here, I WILL NOT stoop to cheap click-bait titles or titillating material to grab outraged eyeballs in an attempt to boost my stats. I will not sully myself or my writing in such a way and I hope my buddies don’t either.

But we deserve to know what the hell happened, WHY, and when Medium is going to right what I consider to be a sinking ship. Or not, at which point it’s probably time to express my genuine gratitude for the ride and paddle off in search of a new horizon. After all, I am the Horizon Huntress (it’s in my profile…wait, is it still there? May not be.)

For when you and I earn the amazing sum of $1.67 on a article to begin with, if that, when those who like our stuff can’t seem to find us, when part of what makes us potentially of interest (top writer status, which I also look at) is stripped away, it feels like a serious watering-down not only of quality but also of any value that we writers might have once enjoyed.

At at time when all or most of us at least are having plenty of issues making a living, those of us who have come to count on Medium for some part of the bills probably aren’t terribly happy at the current situation. As I have found out, no amount of increasing my output, my comments or engagement have done anything to stop the hemorrhaging.

As others have found out to their horror, curated articles aren’t earning dick either. So kindly. WHAT IS THE POINT OF CURATION?

Crickets.

I wrote another message today, got the happy-dappy SO GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU (no you aren’t), and will wait for someone to write back.

Crickets.

Several folks, and I am among them, are exploring other avenues. I am exhausted by this constant tinkering, the constant confusion, the screwing up of what we might be able to expect, an unintelligible dashboard, change this change that and namby pamby articles written to Dear Medium Writer trying to justify and explain said tinkering with lofty language while at the same time utterly f*cking everything up.

My take? Folks, I dunno about you, but when people suck the heart out of a good thing, it’s not a good idea to wait while you’re on what appears to be a long organ transplant list.

Those of us who write for living are highly likely to bail, because our material will find a more friendly (paying) home somewhere else. There are too many outfits happy to take quality work for less and less and less and less. By sticking around, to my mind, we are communicating to Medium that this is just fine, thankyouverymuch.

No. It’s not, guys.

By the way, to those lovely folks putting out articles on paying websites, you effing ROCK. Thank you. I am building a folder.

Sometimes it’s time to pull up the tent pegs and move on. I’ve been here going on two and a half years. It was a good run. I made friends whom I treasure. But I don’t treasure how Medium is treating its writers. From what I can tell, whole lotta folks now getting ready to bail.

You wanna hang out with all the Ponzi schemers selling all those courses on how to make a million on Medium by selling courses on how to make a million on Medium, have at it.

My aspirations are more lofty.

I like being around, reading, and supporting superb writers. Not going to be that many left if this keeps up, but that’s just me. While I would write anyway, simple truth is that under Covid, that income has become a lot more than just handy. You and I, assuming we write for a living, take this seriously and are committed to be better at it, deserve to get paid. Even before, it wasn’t much, But it was something.

Not any more.

Today, well. I see perhaps one or two comments these days. It ain’t just me. If it were I’d own up to it and say, go get ‘er did, do what it takes.

I have been, for two plus years, heart and soul. Gettin’ ‘er did. I’d prefer to stay. Maybe if shit gets fixed.

Medium doesn’t have permission to use my copy to bring in eyeballs if it can’t have the decency to stick with some kind of algorithm that allows us to get paid, even slave wages.

My thanks to all those who shared their concerns and comments. And as my buddy Rebecca Stevens A. says,

Thanks for reading my perspective.