Summary

The author is considering becoming a Friend of Medium but is hesitant due to the discovery that, even as a Friend, editors' shared links will not generate revenue for non-member reads, contrary to initial expectations.

Abstract

The author, a reader, writer, publication owner, and editor on Medium, contemplated upgrading to a Friend of Medium after the tier's launch. Initially, the ability to share paid links with non-members and the increased value of reads seemed beneficial. However, further investigation revealed that as an editor, any shared links would not earn revenue from non-member reads, which was confirmed by Medium Support. This realization has left the author disappointed and still undecided about joining the new tier, despite their overall enjoyment of the platform and desire to support fellow writers.

Opinions

The author values the potential benefits of becoming a Friend of Medium, such as sharing links that could lead to revenue for writers and the increased value of their reads.
There is a sense of disappointment upon learning that, as an editor, the ability to generate revenue from shared links does not change even if they become a Friend of Medium.
The author questions whether Medium fully recognizes that writers and editors are also readers, as indicated by the support team's focus on readers when discussing Friend Links.
Despite the setback, the author remains engaged with the Medium community and is considering the Friend of Medium membership to support writers they admire, albeit with reservations about the effectiveness of their support.
The author humorously suggests an alternative to Medium's Friend program by promoting the "Friend of Smillew" as a potentially more rewarding option.
There is skepticism about the actual financial impact of a Friend of Medium's read, as evidenced by a personal example where the expected increase in earnings was not realized.

GRANDMA ROCKS HER SOCKS

Friends of Medium are Cool & Dandy — Editors Smell Badly

I wanted to be a Friend of Medium.

I nearly joined within a few days of the tier being launched, but after my experience with Medium over the last few updates, I decided to act with caution and read everything I could about what it actually means to be a Friend of Medium for me — a reader, writer, publication owner and editor.

I did understand pretty quickly it wouldn’t include an invitation to dinner.

However, I noticed a few things that seemed valuable to me, making the idea of upgrading to a premium membership appealing.

Such as — being able to share some Tantalizing Tales and Redemption Magazine links with non-members, and the writers getting paid for any generated reads. Plus, a read from me in general — as a friend — being worth 4 times more.

But then I found some more small print I may have missed the first time, or Medium added later, which said — over a course of a long-winded article:

Friend Links shared by authors or publication editors will work the exact same way, meaning that reads to these links will not generate revenue. Please note this is true even if you upgrade to become a Friend of Medium.

Taken from this article.

And Paul Mansfield and I noticed this split in our stats:

It seemed likely that being an editor meant any links shared would be as they always had been— not paid when a non-member uses them.

However, wanting to make sure Paul and I emailed support and asked —

If a publication editor is also a friend of Medium, and shared a link from one of the stories published in their magazine, would it be treated as a Friend of Medium link, and so generate money even when used by non-members?

After several days, we both heard back. My reply was short and sweet. But Paul’s was longer (no pun intended) — so I have included his Medium Support reply below:

Hello,

Medium Partner authors and publication editors (sharing stories in the pubs they own/edit) have the option to share original Friend Links only. When you read your writers stories as a Friend, you are supporting them more. Your engagements are worth 4x a non-Friend.

The new Friend Link is geared primarily towards readers. It is so they can share stories with non-members (or even-non users) to attract more Members into the system, which ultimately raises the pool of money available to pay Partners with. In that way, it benefits all writers.

(The editor in me could have left several notes on the above mail.)

I found it interesting that Mr Support Man said the Friend link is geared towards readers. Does he not know that writers and editors are readers too?

I shed a tear and wiped it away. After all, tomorrow is another day.

I really enjoy being part of the platform. Mixing with my buddies, while getting to read some amazing words and sharing the weirdness and darkness spurting out of my head. So I still may add the heart membership logo to my profile so at least my reads will benefit* the writers I love to support — if only my scintillating presence was enough 🤪…

So, I am still pondering over joining the new tier!

But I was disappointed to learn that sharing links won’t change for editors — even when they are Friends of Medium.

Why not be a Friend of Smillew instead:

Become a Friend of Smillew

Contribute 100x more to Smillew and strengthen your support for the Smillew community with our new Smillew level

medium.com

Subscribe to get all my stories via email

*Regarding the Friend of Medium read being worth 4x more: Yesterday one of my stories was read by 7 members, at least one of these discerning people is a Friend of Medium. However, I only received 0.29 in total!