Summary

Medium introduces calculators for writers to determine their earnings, a move met with skepticism and perceived as a tactic to distract from complaints about low pay and lack of transparency.

Abstract

In a recent development at Medium HQ, the company has introduced calculators for writers to calculate their earnings from claps, a feature that has been met with mixed reactions. The CEO's decision to provide calculators is seen as a way to pacify writers who have been vocal about inconsistent earnings and communication from the platform. The move is a response to the ongoing discontent among writers who feel undervalued and seek more transparency in how their work is monetized. Despite the CEO's confidence in this new feature, the staff's reception was lukewarm, with many failing to grasp the intended benefits, leading to a sense of unease and dissatisfaction among the team.

Opinions

The CEO's idea of introducing calculators is viewed as a strategy to give writers an illusion of control over their earnings, similar to giving toys to toddlers to keep them occupied.
There is a perception that Medium's leadership is more focused on profit margins and silencing criticism rather than genuinely addressing writers' concerns about fair compensation.
The staff's hesitance and the CEO's impatience indicate a disconnect between the management's vision and the employees' understanding or acceptance of the new initiative.
The introduction of calculators is seen as a superficial solution to complex issues of writer compensation and platform transparency.
The article suggests a level of absurdity and condescension in the company's approach to handling writer grievances, with the CEO's ideas being portrayed as out of touch with the writers' needs.

Cents Can Get Up Into The Hundreds

Medium Introduces Calculators

Putting writers in the driver’s seat

**Don’t expect your earnings to rise much higher than this** / Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Back at Medium HQ, the war room was abuzz with ideas to try to put an end to all of the chirping about bad earnings, inconsistent communication, and plain gaslighting.

The CEO had that intense look on his face he usually gets before hatching one of his groundbreaking ideas to end all ideas.

One assistant director suggested Medium should return to its original spirit of providing a platform for hobbyist writers who just like to throw words at the screen for fun:

Pay them nothing. At first they might be a little irritated, but that should die down after everybody gets used to it. Trust me, these people have nothing better to do with their time.

While the CEO thought this idea was an excellent strategy to increase Medium’s profit margin, he feared this would cause riots.

Another senior staff member suggested Medium should pay these ungrateful, grumbling scribblers monopoly money:

It looks like money. It smells like money. But it isn’t money. Kind of like Bitcoin or Gamestop, but different.

**Will writers be happy with Monopoly money?** / Photo by Maria Lin Kim on Unsplash

His idea was ignored. The CEO hadn’t blinked in over five full minutes. Something was pregnant. You could almost hear the baby chicks coming out of their eggs.

And then, the CEO spoke thus:

We’ll give them calculators.

Dead silence around the boardroom. The same silence that descended when he gave birth to his innovation of Jealousy Views.

As everybody around the table was slightly afraid of the CEO, no one came forward to directly contradict him. Instead, one newer employee bravely raised her hand and asked:

What for?

The silence seemed to grow so thick, some started to worry about asphyxiation. The CEO then ended the suspense:

This will give writers the illusion they have actual numbers to work with and they can punch the thousands and thousands of claps into their calculators to work out how many total cents they have made for each story.

The blank faces around the war room signaled something wasn’t getting through regarding this latest instance of the CEO’s genius.

The CEO showed patience, took a very long pause almost to the point of awkwardness, and proceeded with his demonic new idea:

Writers keep complaining they can’t figure out how we calculate earnings, moaning that everything is inconsistent, and accusing us of not being transparent…

This will give them a sense of control, much like giving toddlers toy cars.

More silence. Incomprehension. One team member yawned. The CEO impatiently spelled it out:

Instead of complaining, writers can spend their time punching numbers on a calculator to work out how two thousand claps works out to exactly $1.7666666666.

Giving up on his slow audience, the CEO snapped his fingers at the IT man in the corner:

Fix this up ASAP. I want every Medium member to see an online calculator on the same page of their stats and earnings page by tomorrow morning.

End of meeting.

**Letting writers feel like they are in the driver’s seat** / Photo by Angelika Agibalova on Unsplash

_______________________

Thanks for reading. Want more Meta-Medium news? Here are three unsettling developments below:

Cents Can Get Up Into The Hundreds

Medium Introduces Calculators

Putting writers in the driver’s seat

Medium Introduces The Slap

A more complete array of response options

Medium Introduces Jealousy Views

A whole new scoring system

Medium Introduces Back-Patting

When nobody else is clapping