Let’s make friends on Medium
Why Friends of Medium is important for all of us
Like many of you, I’m feeling a degree of scepticism about the new Friends of Medium membership tier.
However, I’ve taken the plunge and am paying the extra $10 a month.
A little cavalier, perhaps, but motivation and inspiration must be credited here to one of my talented fellow writers, Sally Prag, in her article on the subject.
It just feels like the right thing to do. So, I’m with Sally on this one and have already signed-up.
As a professional journalist and marketing writer, I’ve been fortunate to earn a living from writing over four decades. However, as I’ve stated in the past, the pittance I receive from Medium isn’t enough to feed my cat.*
Alex Benzer writing on The Medium Blog this week, highlighted the principle on which the platform was set up more than a decade ago:
“… a home for high-quality stories focused on creating a simple, beautiful experience for readers and writers, sustained without selling ads or user data. Our member-supported platform directly supports writers; through our Partner Program, we’ve built a sustainable new subscription model for online publishing.
We designed Medium this way because we believe writers should be rewarded for great writing. If you’re reading this, we imagine you do, too.”
It’s a highly laudable vision with praiseworthy intent which we’ve welcomed and willingly signed-up to be part of. But, come on, let’s be honest — Please.
For the vast majority of writers, many of them extremely able and creative, it’s NOT a beautiful experience and there’s NO reward for great writing.
Let’s be under no illusions. The odds and the algorithms have been stacked unfairly against us.
So why have I signed up?
Firstly, I’m an optimist. I want to believe Medium’s failure, to date, to introduce a much fairer means of rewarding good writing and creativity will be addressed with greater transparency through the introduction of this new membership tier.
Secondly, I love the idea of being able to help the many talented and dedicated writers across our Medium community who, frankly, deserve more than the crumbs they currently receive from the Medium table.
We need to level things up financially across the full spectrum of our wonderful writing community — Not just the privileged few at the apex of the pyramid. It’s long overdue.
This could be a positive initiative for all the writers out there scattered across the globe that I’ve connected with on Medium over the last three years and read regularly and enjoy communicating with.
Crucially, among the promised benefits, as a Friend of Medium, now, when reading my favourite writers who submit member-only stories, they will earn four times more based on my read and listening times; claps; highlights; comments; and follows.
The key take-away here is that earnings for my fellow writers who I regularly read will increase by 400% for each direct engagement with their writing.
That’s got to be worth it and a step in the right direction, surely?
Interestingly, while I won’t benefit financially, as an aside, it may result in an additional follower or two to bolster my own stats which may be worth monitoring.
Finally, sometimes you have to take a punt and trust that this isn’t just another scam promotion from those we’ve invested our faith and our money in.
I’m demonstrating my faith in the hope that there are some good guys out there who will strand by the promises they make to us. N.B. Medium.
Anyway, I’m in. I’m giving it my full support on the sole condition that Medium honours what I believe and hope could be a game-changing commitment for the benefit of all good writers on the platform.
That’s why I’ve signed up and I’ll be keeping a close eye on how things unfold over the coming months.
If it doesn’t work out, I’ll cancel it at the end of my current subscription along with my membership and re-distribute the money to the charities below.
I’ll keep you posted and would love to hear your thoughts, too.
*For the benefit of the cat lovers among my followers, Charlie (pictured above) shares his affections with several neighbours in order to satisfy his ample dietary requirements. No cats went hungry during the writing of this article.
It helps when you read
Every word read on my Medium account during 2023 helps someone. All money earned goes to the following charities:
Children with Cancer UK — Helping children and young people with cancer. Young Gloucestershire — Supporting disadvantaged young people facing challenges in their lives. The Big Yellow Bus Project — Shelter and support for the homeless. Fastlane Ukraine — Transporting humanitarian aid to Ukraine and carrying displaced refugees to safety.
It’s a small gesture and it’s not going to change the world, but if it helps one person, it’s worth it.
Thank you for reading, highlighting, clapping, and commenting, but most of all, for making a difference.
If you enjoyed this story you may also check the perspectives of Dr Mehmet Yildiz from a different angle.
