Summary

The article advocates for a collaborative and community-focused approach to engaging with Medium, emphasizing personal growth, improvement in writing, and meaningful connections over the pursuit of virality and wealth.

Abstract

The author expresses a critical view of the Medium platform's culture, where some writers prioritize going viral and getting rich quickly over genuine content creation and community building. Instead, the author proposes a different approach to Medium, highlighting the importance of growth, improvement, and connections. They share their personal experience of increased writing quality and diverse interactions with various professionals, which they consider a true measure of success on the platform. The article calls for a shift towards a more collaborative Medium, where writers support each other, share each other's work, and focus on collective success rather than individual gain.

Opinions

The author perceives a "dark-side" of Medium, where the focus is on viral content and quick wealth rather than quality writing and community engagement.
Influencers who flaunt their earnings on Medium are seen as part of a content mill, prioritizing their own success over the well-being of the community.
The author rejects the idea that wealth and fame are the primary goals of Medium, suggesting that there are more meaningful benefits to be gained, such as personal growth and networking.
The article suggests that the true value of Medium lies in the opportunity to improve one's writing skills through consistent practice and to form connections with a diverse group of writers and professionals.
Inspired by Dr. Mehmet Yildiz's publication "Illumination" and a post by Jack Heimbigner, the author calls for a culture of collaboration, mutual promotion, and networking on Medium.
The author commits to engaging with other writers' work, offering comments, sharing content, and promoting collaboration, suggesting that success on Medium should be a collective endeavor.

Let’s Medium Together

Is there another way to show up on this platform?

Something about Medium doesn’t sit right with me.

There are so many writers here who seem to follow the crowd of other more popular Medium writers.

They are here not to build up their writing or their community.

There’s a dark-side of Medium of people trying to go viral so they can get rich quick.

The influencers tell you how much they are making on Medium, so you’ll follow the path to riches and gamesmanship.

It’s sort of a game to earn as much money and get as many followers as possible so they can feed you into their content mill. They want you and me to become part of their ecosystem. We are simply numbers in their sales funnel to get rich on Medium.

Well, screw that.

Just because a bunch of people are doing this crap, doesn’t mean you have to. It doesn’t mean it’s right. It doesn’t mean it’s the only way.

Just because people are telling you how to create viral posts and make money on Medium, doesn’t mean they have Medium right.

I would say they have Medium wrong.

You don’t have to BE here to get rich and famous.

There’s more to be gained here on Medium than fame and riches.

In fact, this is one of the harder ways to do it.

Sure, some will earn some buck writing about how to get rich on Medium; some suckers, looking to make a quick buck, will always fall for it — forgetting it’s THEIR clicks on such articles that make the whole get rich quick scheme work. Until it doesn’t, and it all falls apart, and takes the rest of us with it.

Can you even imagine a real magazine paying contributors to write about how to make money writing for the magazine??

Exactly.

There is another way to Medium.

I’ve been tinkering around on this site around for years, but the pandemic gave me the time to go “all in” on Medium. By all in, I mean, I published about 15 articles per month, increased followers by about 400 people, and multiplied my earnings by five times to a luxurious two digit income.

I mention these numbers because some may call this a success, but that’s not really what I am getting out of Medium. That’s not the way I define success. That’s not what I focus on.

What I’m getting out of Medium are growth, improvement, and connections.

By growth, I meant that I’ve grown as a person. You can’t but read all this brilliant writing and not actually change your life.

By improvement, I’m talking about writing. You can’t help but improve your writing skill by writing 15–20 articles a month and get better. The best news ever to my writing is giving up list posts. I still do it occasionally, but I’ve broken my attachment to list posts, which is what I’ve done for years. I notice people on Medium don’t write in lists (a whole lot).

By connections, I mean that I’m meeting all kinds of great writers and people over here. Everyone from doctors to artists. From social justice activists to professors. From professional to retired. From the prolific to the “probably this is the only article I’m writing.”

As I receive these intangible and some actual benefits from Medium, I have a different proposition and a call for action.

This idea is inspired by Dr. Mehmet Yildiz and his publication Illumination. This is a publication that is focused on working together, promoting each other, and helping each other. What a concept!

It’s also inspired by this recent post by fellow Medium writer Jack Heimbigner who wrote this post recently about helping each other.

There is a different way to Medium.

You can be collaborative.

You can be helpful.

You can promote each other.

You can network and help each other.

Well, I don’t know if I can ask so much from you, but that’s the way I plan to Medium.

We don’t have to be solitary writers going for our own glory. We can turn Medium into a team sport. We can write together, engage together, celebrate together, and move forward together.

I don’t know why this is beginning to sound like a political TV ad, but I am calling on all of us to come together and work together to move forward together.

I’m calling for a new kind of Medium.

For me, this means reading your writing, commenting on your posts, and trying to be helpful wherever I can be. It’s to send your posts to others who may like it and to promote your posts as well.

It’s to show to people that we can be successful together.

You can play on the field of curation, virality, and slot-machine writing to get rich quick. You can play in the field of me, me, me dium.

Or play on the field of collaboration, friendship, and mutual success. You can play on the field of we. I don’t know — we dium.

I’ll be on that second field with some granola bars, water, and face-masks.

See you out there.

How do you feel about Medium culture? Are you ready for a new way of Medium-ing? If so, leave a comment below and tell me you’re in :)