Summary

The author reflects on their evolving experience with writing on Medium from July 2020 to mid-2022, noting changes in platform dynamics, financial incentives, and content distribution, which have affected their engagement and success on the platform.

Abstract

The author begins writing on Medium in July 2020, attracted by the success stories of bloggers monetizing their content. Initially, the platform's algorithm favored consistent publishing and authentic experiences. However, by early 2021, the author observes significant changes, including layoffs and the defunding of popular publications, juxtaposed with generous bonuses for top writers. Despite this, the author experiences a decline in views by the end of 2021, alongside complaints from other prominent writers about the platform's opaque algorithm and reduced earnings per view. In the first half of 2022, further changes, such as the introduction of referral payments and a follower requirement for the partner program, lead the author to diversify income streams and reevaluate their approach to Medium. The author now publishes content primarily to direct traffic to external ventures, rank on search engines, and occasionally for cathartic expression, while maintaining a healthy skepticism about Medium's content promotion strategies.

Opinions

The author is skeptical about Medium's continuous changes and their impact on writers' success and platform engagement.
There is a belief that Medium intentionally de-emphasizes consistently popular writers and publications to maintain a sense of newness and relevance.
The author perceives that Medium's financial decisions, such as lay

How I Feel About Writing on Medium in 2022 and Beyond

No holding back

I’m not usually one to write about Medium, on Medium.

But with many top writers recently denouncing the platform and speaking their minds, it makes me wonder about my own writing future on the platform.

July 2020-December 2020

I started writing on Medium in July 2020 after learning about many successful bloggers who were able to earn money on the platform.

Back then, the rules of Medium were different.

Writers could write about the platform itself (like what I’m doing now) and curators would still distribute the story.
Changes were always happening on the platform.
And the algorithm favored writers who did two things: Published consistently and used real-world experiences.

Nowadays, the only thing certain on Medium is that nothing is certain because changes are always happening.

January 2021-June 2021

The front half of 2021 is when I personally started to notice real changes on Medium.

I was an up-and-coming writer who was doing surprisingly well. I had a couple thousand followers, made a bit of money and netted a few viral stories. I even started my own publication.

My success was how I knew something was off.

In March 2021, Medium announced it was going to lay off a lot of its staff. And I’m not exaggerating when I say it laid off A LOT of its staff. Like almost everyone, gone.

The next change we saw in 2021 was when they pulled funding for a publication called P.S. I Love You and it went bye-bye. It published stories about love stories, romance, etc., so naturally, I did not submit anything to the pub. Too mushy for me.

But I know readers who LOVED that publication. Like, they couldn’t get enough of it. Like the kind of love that makes one wonder why Medium would decide to pull the funding for that specific publication.

Many of us writers were really curious about this change, me included. Sadly, we were all blinded by the financial incentives that came immediately after. Medium gave its top writers a $500 bonus, not once, not twice, but 4 months straight.

I think I read somewhere that the company gave writers a million dollars in those 4 months. I and many others were blinded by the fat stacks of money that we didn’t see what was happening.

Medium cut a crap-ton of employees’ salaries AND nixed a massive publication it was funding. Then it gave writers a million dollars. Catch my drift?

But between the free money and my articles skyrocketing in views, I didn’t think twice about it at the time. I was writing for money and that’s all that mattered.

July 2021-December 2021

After a summer of getting free money, that’s when I noticed another change. Top writers started complaining about a lack of views and in November 2021, I finally realized what they were talking about.

My views had gone from averaging 40,000 over the summer to averaging about 18,000. I was writing the same amount of stories and would like to believe I didn’t just lose my touch. The stories just weren’t doing the same numbers they used to.

Many really popular writers noted that newer accounts were getting a lot of views on Medium, but I wasn’t really sure of this. I’m still not sure of it, maybe it’s possible? I just knew views were down and my goal was to keep publishing.

January 2022-June 2022

These last 6 months have been a wild ride for me and many other writers on Medium. They made even more changes — like introducing referral payments and 100 follower requirements for the partner program. Also, it seems like the money I’m earning per view has gone down drastically, along with my overall number of views.

The algorithm is definitely different. I used to love reading my suggested stories on Medium, but now it’s extremely hard for me to find which stories are even popular or trending. I just see random posts about topics I’m not even interested in.

Am I concerned about all this? No.

I knew from the beginning not to put all my eggs in Medium’s basket. That’s why I’ve built other income streams from my writing besides this platform.

But I have changed my approach. Here’s what I mean.

Takeaways and conspiracies for writing on Medium

I never wrote on Medium just for the money, but now I’m really not concerned about getting paid here. I will continue to publish stories on Medium for one of three reasons:

To keep snagging clicks and guide traffic to my books, newsletters, blogs, etc.
To rank high on search engines and aim for membership referrals.
Or if I’m feeling a good rant (like right now).

That’s it. Those three bullet points or bust.

I also have a wild conspiracy theory about what’s happened with Medium.

I feel as though Medium leans away from anything that is too popular on the platform. They don’t want to watch the same writers and publications win time after time again. By doing this, they are always “discovering” new writers, publications and formulas to stay relevant.

But sadly, they don’t really excel at handling it well. If a writer, pub or topic gets too saturated, Medium hardcore throttles views until they are irrelevant. This results in a huge turnover rate of writers and publications.

I think the loophole to all of this can be seen by reading between the lines a bit. Sure, Medium might be paying less per view but they are offering a new way to get paid with membership referrals. If you can get 100 referrals then you can solidify a couple hundred dollars of income every month.

On top of that, Medium ranks high on search engines and still generates a lot of readers for new and veteran writers.

For these reasons, count me in on Medium for at least another 6 months. We’ll circle back then and see what’s changed.

🔴 I hope you enjoyed reading this. If you’d like to support me as a writer, consider signing up to become a Medium member. It’s just $5 a month and you get unlimited access to Medium.