Have Your Partner Program Earnings Fallen Off the Cliff?
Medium CEO Tony Stubblebine addresses the issue.
Many of us writers are gathering on the edge of a cliff, watching our Medium earnings floating out to sea.
On September 24, 2023, our earnings plummeted. And the freefall has not stopped.
Here’s a story I wrote four days earlier:
Under the pre-September 24th New Partner Program, this story earned $3.04 with 557 claps and 6 comments.
Not rush-out-and-buy-a-Ferrari money, but not bad at all.
Let’s compare these stats with the stories I published this week.
The Aliens Are Made of Cake earned only 56 cents. Granted, there were fewer claps (370) and comments (7). Still, these numbers told me something was off.
Writer’s Shortcut: 35 Alternative Ways to Say ‘Walk’ fared even worse, with 34 cents in earnings — yet a whopping 803 claps and 17 comments.
More engagement = lower earnings? I’m confused.
Many Medium writers are openly discussing their own shocking 50% to 90% drop in earnings. We’re still waiting for an official Medium explanation.
Today, Medium CEO Tony Stubblebine posted an article on The Medium Blog about AI using our stories. It is well worth your time to read this important article.
In the replies, Medium writer Jenny Lane asked CEO Tony what caused the drop in earnings. (I’m posting a screenshot because Tony’s stories attract massive numbers of comments, so it may be hard for you to locate this thread.)
CEO Tony’s reply:
CEO Tony is giving us good information. Let’s break it down into bite-sized pieces.
- There is something called “rate limiting.”
- Giving and encouraging engagement = bad.
- Leaving too many comments = bad.
- Medium’s goal = quality.
- Someone at Medium HQ will give us an official explanation soon.
My understanding is that earnings under the new Medium Partner Program are based on writing stories and engaging with other writers. That’s why we read, clap, highlight, and comment.
What are the parameters?
How many stories are we allowed to read each day?
How many comments are too many? (I thought there was an automatic limit of 100 or so per day.)
Do too many claps trigger a flashing red warning light on Medium’s console?
If we writers have engaged in too much interaction, is the drop in our earnings a sign that we have been put in some kind of Medium jail?
How do we get out of Medium jail? Can we get released for good behavior?
We’re not bots. We’re living, breathing human beings.
We’re not trying to break any rules.
We need to know what the rules are.
Can Medium prevent this drop in earnings from happening again by setting an automatic limit on reads, claps, highlights, and comments? (Maybe when you hit the limit, a message appears on your screen scolding you to do something else, like take a nap.)
Your thoughts are always welcome.
(I hope I didn’t miss any of my favorite authors! Please let me know if you would like your name added to or removed from this list.)
Imothoughts, Adrian CDTPPW, Willow Reed, Britt H., Frances A. Chiu, Dixie Dodd, Seda Anbarcı, Edward Swafford, Nancy Oglesby, Lisa Guard 😵💫, Karen Schwartz, JB The Talker, Lynn L. Alexander, Jennifer Dunne, Sophia Tell- Stories 🤓📢🤓, Kerin, Block Wife, Jimwebster, Sweet Honeylu, Rampath, Tori Hall Sudduth, Emily’s Travel Tips, jennydwyer, Ashllyn T., KAKA LAM 嘉嘉 @iamkakalamkk, Jane Keathley, Jessie Beautiful, Johnny Poitras, The LARO ✨✨, Sheila And David, Randy Pulley, Leonora watkins, Shanti C K, Jan Sebastian 🖐👩🦰, Jazmin Fox Finesse, Lesley Dewar There's always another story to tell, Val's Poetry Shelf, Dawn Ulmer, Marcus Musick, Mark Baquiran, Ministry of Meow, Penny Rackley, Pico Salas G., Stephen Payne, A.I. Inkwell, Annelise Lords, ComedyChronicles, da-AL, Dion Groove, Holly Emery