Medium, If It Ain’t Broke, Then, Don’t Break It!

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day. Yesterday I edited over twenty articles. I always make sure to read the post, to clap for the piece I edit and to leave a comment behind. You, writer, put in a shift. As a sign of respect to you and your craft, I’ll acknowledge your effort.</p><p id="8066">The strange thing is that when I click on notifications on my profile, all the submissions are there. Yet, I cannot edit them. The interface won’t let me. There’s no “publish” button.</p><p id="fc2d">Ev, please, go back to that message from 2012. Quality will suffer because you’re limiting access. I understand that the new interface resembles Twitter’s a lot (a company you co-founded). Perhaps, there’s a hidden message there. One I haven’t cracked yet, but for the life of me, I really can’t be arsed to decipher.</p><p id="48cc">Medium wasn’t broken. I usually welcome change, but not when it comes accompanied by a flood of errors. The consequences are too hard to bear. If you don’t believe me, ask Mickey.</p><p id="27d2"><a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6886/9781528994293"><b><i>“Cuban, Immigrant, and Londoner”</i></b></a>, on sale now.</p><div id="5bde" class="link-block"> <a href="https://acubaninlondon.medium.com/membership"> <div> <div> <h2>Join Medium with my referral link - Mario López-Goicoechea</h2> <div><h3>As a Medium member, a portion of your membership fee goes to writers you read, and you get full access to every story…</h3></div> <div><p>acubaninlondon.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*Uer4JZcN-m2RxVHm)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="da75" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/why-writing-a

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Why (sudden) change can sometimes backfire

Yes, I’m wearing a sorcerer’s hat, but that doesn’t make me a magician Photo by steven lozano on Unsplash

In a post published on 25th October, 2012, Ev Williams, CEO of Medium, states that “limiting access is not our approach to quality”. In the article Ev refers to the beginnings of Medium and how hard he and the staff were working at the time to design the first version of the website.

Fast forward to 2022 and Medium’s gone Fantasia. All we need is some dancing hippos and voilà! we’ve entered Disney’s 1940 magical realm.

Except that there’s no magic in Medium’s new interface. The glitches and hiccups might remind us of Mickey Mouse’s aspiring magician’s facetious clumsiness, but in reality we’re drowning in a sea of gaffes.

Forget the clap system playing up, comments not loading or, in my case, not being able to access my own profile on my laptop (judging by my own experience, Medium’s latest iteration is not laptop-friendly). The change I resent the most is that at present I’m not getting any notifications by e-mail. As an editor for various pubs, I’m used to seeing my inbox filling up with up to fifty messages in one day. Yesterday I edited over twenty articles. I always make sure to read the post, to clap for the piece I edit and to leave a comment behind. You, writer, put in a shift. As a sign of respect to you and your craft, I’ll acknowledge your effort.

The strange thing is that when I click on notifications on my profile, all the submissions are there. Yet, I cannot edit them. The interface won’t let me. There’s no “publish” button.

Ev, please, go back to that message from 2012. Quality will suffer because you’re limiting access. I understand that the new interface resembles Twitter’s a lot (a company you co-founded). Perhaps, there’s a hidden message there. One I haven’t cracked yet, but for the life of me, I really can’t be arsed to decipher.

Medium wasn’t broken. I usually welcome change, but not when it comes accompanied by a flood of errors. The consequences are too hard to bear. If you don’t believe me, ask Mickey.

WRITING CREATIVE WRITING CREATIVE NONFICTION

Medium, If It Ain’t Broke, Then, Don’t Break It!

Why (sudden) change can sometimes backfire

Join Medium with my referral link - Mario López-Goicoechea

As a Medium member, a portion of your membership fee goes to writers you read, and you get full access to every story…

Why Writing About Writing Won’t Help Your Writing In the Long Term

Be a hot tramp instead, and we’ll love you so

How to Stick It Out as a Writer on Medium in the Long-Term

Clue: the solution is neither frequency nor click-bait posts

How to Find the Inspiration to Write When Nothing’s Inspiring Enough

Clue: there’s always something to write about