The Most Frustrating Aspect of Medium
As an adult, I don’t want gold stars — I want money
I am on the fence about whether Medium disappoints as a platform or is an amazing community in which I’ve blossomed. The reasons for my ambivalence are echoed in the thoughts of other writers:
Once we had bonuses, so now income seems anemic.
My feed is clogged with content I don’t like and don’t read.
It seems writing clickbait is the answer (or is it?)
And the number one complaint:
I can’t figure out how to make a living at this.
Before I get into my prime source of righteously justified annoyance — and only critique — I should point out I earn more than the majority of Medium writers, according to the feedback I get here.
I’m usually bringing in around $400 a month. I have 7.7K followers (and it took at least the last six months to move from 7.6K to 7.7K, whatever that means).
I’ve been writing here since late 2019. I was a Medium pandemic baby.
The Viral Spiral
I write pieces that go semi-viral about twice a month. After extensive analysis, I am no closer to understanding why this happens than I was near the start, three years ago.
Sometimes, I publish articles like Jessica Wildfire Sent Me a WhatsApp Link and they go semi-viral (on my scale; I’m talking 3K claps). Then I think:
“I need to mention a famous person, that’s the ticket!”
So I cobble together a clever piece mentioning a celeb, and it plummets like a lead-plated dirigible such as Hunter S. Thompson Hits the Road to Branson, currently one of my least-read articles with 31 sad claps.
Does it seem like I’m self-promoting? Yes, I am — because that might work!
Then again, it might alienate readers. Who the F knows?
Other times, I write something truly funny, such as Childfree Lady Dies in Unicycle Accident, and it does middling well, though I suspect it’s mainly because “Childfree Lady” appeals to a specific demographic within my follower audience.
Then, I scratch my head over the hilarious piece I wrote that was just as good but flailed and floundered…you can see where this is going, down the rocky, dark road to cognitive dissonance land.
God vs. Satan in the World Series of Self-Worth
Here’s my beef with being a Writer. I have four mildly successful claims to writing achievement, with emphasis on mildly.
- In high school, I won a national and prestigious writing award.
2. I published in academia, as a first author. As someone who is PhD-less, that was satisfying, partly because it was getting paid to write.
3. I once got a decent salary for writing sleazy tabloid journalism. The fact that someone paid what could theoretically be a living wage to write words enveloped me in a heavenly beam of light almost powerful enough to make me forget details about the Toy Box Killer.
4. And, finally, I have more followers on Medium than I would’ve ever imagined.
So why am I whining and kvetching in print? It has to do with growth and progress, not so much honing my craft, as the universal principle that if we apply ourselves — especially in a field where we have talent — we’ll get ahead.
The Broken Formula
In my puny simian brain, I believe having more followers and more money (especially the latter) is the natural progression of hard work + time.
This is a completely logical assumption, and I am confident the majority of writers here believe the same.
The formula has been drummed into our compliant brains since teachers began handing out #2 pencils and bubble answer sheets in 3rd grade.
Hard Work + Time (x some coefficient of Talent) = Success
On Medium, this formula screeches and moans like a record album playing backward, kinda Satanic.
I’ve grown a following over the years, but the number of hours and the passage of linear time haven’t translated into a logical or expected trajectory.
In other words, I’m chronically disappointed.
I can write every single day, and at this stage, all it accomplishes is upping my odds of a semi-viral hit by an unknown but minuscule factor.
This platform has a lot of talent so relevance, snappy headlines, and finding a niche matter. I have an audience with certain expectations so I need to keep consistent.
Then again, I see dreck that goes viral more often than is fair or just. So does quality control matter?
Slight side rant: I’m not talking about unoriginal ideas, I’m referring to egregiously written, syntactical crimes loaded with rehashed cliches like a baked-potato sagging under the weight of sour cream, fake butter, and randomly placed M&Ms.
No One Likes Feeling Stuck or Powerless
My attitude fluctuates because, at the nadir, I suspect no amount of hard work, cleverness, skill, or time will move the $$ needle forward.
Success feels like a crap shoot.
I’m a fatalist who believes most of Life Success is determined by factors totally beyond our control — chiefly, our family circumstances and innate biological advantages.
So why can’t I accept a roll of the dice in the Medium casino?
As we know, the GOP is defined by its stance that personal responsibility and hard work are the cornerstones of individual success. Some people with this outlook refuse to accept that society is grossly unfair, and luck plays a huge part.
So I guess you could say I’m a closet Republican because I want my sweat and toil to pay off. Not only that, I expect my hard work to yield results.
It’s not an unreasonable expectation unless Medium is hustling me.
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Jean Campbell recently started her first Substack newsletter to laser focus on getting her book, City of Lies: A Street Hustler’s Omaha Journey published.