Thank you For Reinstating My Account

But I am going to take a pass for now.

A few days ago I was caught up in the great Medium purge of March.

Without warning, my account was shut down and I was informed that it was under investigation.

Knowing that I have never done anything even close to a violation of the rules, I figured it must all be a mistake. My mind immediately thought of the many bots and clones that had been made of my account. It seemed likely that Medium had clearly mixed up the real me with all the fake and scam accounts.

Maybe I was right. I will never know.

Last night I received a message that they had “reconsidered” and gave instructions on how to reconfigure my account. Any payment owed to me would now come in April, and I would have to fix everything myself.

No apologies were made for the time or stress this all created.

Also, the boost I was in the middle of during this time remained squashed, and Medium could not care less. That was probably the hardest piece I have ever written, and my ban caused it to basically flatline.

All of that left a very bad taste in my mouth.

Listen, I know Medium is a corporation and their loyalty is to their bottom line. Writers are not employees and we should not expect to be treated as such.

However, a little respect and regard would be nice.

I also know that the site has been overrun with bots, clones, and AI. Something needed to be done. However, this latest sweep took out so many real and authentic writers that it is obvious something went very wrong.

If your system cannot tell the difference between real writers and AI scammers, should you not maybe look at how you are doing things?

So many of my great friends such as Toni the Talker, RC Hammond, Mika, and Nour Boustani have all been removed. Many others have been as well but they are just too many to list. What is their great offense?

After following them for a long time, I can assure you, they have been unjustly targeted.

So what are the rules?

It seems that they are being made up as we go.

While engagement has been what attracts me to this platform, it seems to now be frowned upon. Don’t you dare read, clap and comment too much or you may be referred to as a “growth hacker.”

I am retired, I enjoy reading, clapping and commenting on the work of my many writer friends here. I love what they write and always look forward to reading their next piece.

That is what I pay a membership fee for!

Let me repeat that comment for those in the back row.

That is what I pay a membership fee for!

I was a school Principal for many years. One thing I knew very well was that any rules or guidelines needed to be clear to everyone in the building. Otherwise, chaos would ensue.

There seems to be a lot of fear out in the Medium world. Why?

Because nobody knows what the rules are anymore.

Something else that my role as a Principal taught me is to never rush to a decision. As such, I am not making a definitive decision about my future on this platform. I will still read the work of my friends and support them.

Maybe I will be banned again for being so bold. Who knows. It seems we are all targets now.

While I will use Medium as a reading platform for now, I will not be writing here any longer. Not until I decide what my future writing career looks like.

It is likely that I will move to Substack. I already have an account there and a transition will be quite easy.

Time will tell and how Medium responds to these issues is key.

One thing I do know for a fact, is that anyone who writes on a platform such as this is at the mercy of that said platform. You can be removed very quickly and without any explanation.

That no longer sounds like a safe space for what I do or my writing.

I would like to thank my many friends who advocated on my behalf. You are the reason I still remain.

Because the writing community here is simply the best that exists. I would miss the community here intensely if I do decide to leave.

I was touched by the many kind words that were said about me and the many people who advocated on my behalf. Once again, there are too many to name. In particular, however, Jason Daughtry was passionate in his support for me. He is a brilliant guy and we have become very close. I know my friendship with him, and with so many of you will continue no matter what happens.

In the meantime, I want to see the return of so many of my friends who have been removed from the platform.

Admit your mistake, Medium, and let us try to rebuild things together.

If not…you have made my decision for me.