Medium Doesn’t Owe You a Damn Thing

90% of Medium-related content is entitled swines throwing a bitch fit.

This update, that update, curation, lack of payment. You can’t win. The odds are stacked in favour of those who are here years. Whatever it is -it’s never good.

God bless my feed; I clicked on one today.

This person had the gall to write a complaint to Ev Williams, the owner of Medium, and was not happy that they were shown the “Leave Partner Program” button.

Evans Big Dick Energy is the kind I’m here for.

Further exploration shows that our wounded writer publishes regularly about how to make money and build an audience. If you’re writing complaints to the owner, how are you in a position to be doling out this information?

Every Platform Changes

Has Mark Zuckerberg ever rolled back a change because of a few complaints about Facebook or Instagram? Has Pinterest ever rolled back a change? Youtube? TikTok?

Every update on every platform comes with a host of disgruntled people who want to raise hell, start a riot and have things go back to the way they were.

The way they were when they were winning.

Platforms always do this. Initially, they need to create a space that people want to go to and engage in. It’s why most social media sites don’t have ads at the beginning. You can’t make money from no people.

Then with time they shift and change to act out their own money-making goals. Which they are perfectly entitled to do because they built the damn platform!

It’s their business. It’s their product and if they decide to change so be it. If it kills their platform then so be it. That’s on them.

But with a boardroom of professionals putting endless hours into creating these updates why would they listen to a few disgruntled users? You’re a percentage point on a spreadsheet. They expect a certain amount of backlash. It’s never enough to roll back the changes though.

So Leave

People bitched and moaned and complained about Instagram. Nothing changed. People left Instagram for TikTok. Everything changed. People gained nothing by giving out about Instagram on Instagram.

Instagram doesn’t care because you’re still on their platform engaging your audience which in turn keeps more people on their platform.

The same rings true for Medium. If you’re not happy with Medium. Leave.

We don’t need a goodbye letter. We don’t need your moaning decree that it’s not fair. Just go! Show the bad guys, stick it to the man — put your efforts elsewhere.

No One Else Cares Enough

Bitching about Medium will give you your little vindicated hit of dopamine — you’ll get a few 100 claps, maybe even 1,000 but it won’t make a difference. The rest of us accept it for what it is. A nice way to make a few extra quid.

If we make it big, awesome. If we don’t, awesome. Our writing is still being seen by so many people that would have otherwise never known about us.

Make Your Own Money

You’re not entitled to the money because you made something and if you want to make money; sell something. Don’t throw a bitch fit because one of the few places that are actually rewarding your efforts isn’t compensating you enough.

Build your own self-hosted website. Sell your own shit there. Ah yes, there’s no traffic there, is there?

Join Upwork or Fiverr and freelance. Ah yes, but they’re not your own opinions, are they?

If you want to make money with your writing you have to do something with your writing that warrants making money. Medium has told you what they’ll offer, so take it or don’t.

You know the rules. Don’t bank on any one platform. You’re not in control. After years of the online landscape evolving the number one rule is to have your own site and have your own email list.

All I see when I see someone bitching and moaning is a child having a tantrum because it’s not going their way anymore.

See the benefits or leave

When I first found medium there was no partner program, no paywall; it was all free. I came for the stories, the writers, the readers, and the eyeballs.

If anything the paywall made it worse because now we have money grabbers bitching and moaning about not being paid enough. Back then, we had people who wanted to write and share and teach and instruct.

It wasn’t about an income, it was about a craft. People who loved to write for writing's sake, not the money they could get from it.

The OG writers on medium understood the real magic of the platform. An audience. A way to be seen a way to be heard. Titles like “top writer” — recognition.

There is so much more to this platform than money. Countless businesses have flourished outside of the site because of it.

Because here’s the thing. If you’re here for the money; you’re here for the wrong reasons. Medium is about writing. If you see writing as a get-rich money scheme, you’re in the wrong place.

Your flailing posts of indignation do nothing but spread negativity. So decide who you want to be. A writer or money-grabbing word-spitter. If it’s the latter — Ev Williams has already shown you the way.

It’s one button.

Leave the partner program.

You’re not leaving though, are you?