Ev Williams Envisions a More Relational Platform
Whatever that means
Bodies of water transform from liquid to ice.
Relational sounds nice. Ev, will you consider relating with your writers?
As you are likely aware, the Medium platform underwent a massive overhaul in design aesthetics, UX, and UI on October 14, 2020.
Many writers feel caught without clothes on, so to speak, as there was no heads-up to the change besides the general information that Medium planned to transition to a new functionality and aesthetic. That’s why they ran the beta and asked for user feedback.
Medium seems hellbent on getting customer service backwards with writers, which is quite confusing.
Ev Williams seems like a very nice guy. Honestly, he does. Check out his work here: https://ev.medium.com/ and here: https://medium.com/@ev and follow him on twitter here: https://twitter.com/ev . These are all wonderful resources for keeping up with changes at Medium.
He’s a thoughtful, experiential, and deep thinker from my assessment. See his article titled Rethinking Funding.
You are also, you can’t please everyone. Change is often met with resistance, but is also often a catalyst for positive transformation.
Please approach platform changes with an open mind and empathy — for Medium and yourself. Kindness goes a long way.
Finding balance while self-advocating can be a tricky line to navigate.
Seeing my writer friends — and they are friends — feeling their sometimes-minuscule worth slipping away as read times on short pieces seem not to register for payment, I took two actions.
This affects me also — I write poetry and microfiction as well as long-form content.
- I sent [email protected] a friendly and question specific email, which is copied and pasted below.
- I also whipped up this tutorial for anyone feeling a bit lost at sea on the changes.
Good evening,
First of all, I’d like to let you know I’m enjoying the new platform aesthetic on Medium. It is fun to read and I’m getting the hang of writing on it. Thank you for your innovative thinking.
I wonder why these changes are unveiled without warning to your writers and readers? In the future, would you consider sending a heads-up email about large changes? I see many other companies do this and I think it alleviates concerns and anxiety. It’s even better when a company anticipates what might raise anxiety and addresses this in the email.
Regarding read time for writers, I’m hoping you can offer some clarity regarding how writers are paid per minutes under the new platform design. Are writers paid when readers scroll through their profile pages without opening the “read more” option? Is time calculated on short pieces that don’t require clicking the “read more” option? Will there be a way for writers to see this data in stats?
One thing that has been baffling to me since joining Medium in April 2020 as a paid writer is the lack of transparency regarding the formula used to calculate how writers are paid. I would very much appreciate access to that formula.
Although I joined Medium during the COVID19 pandemic, I’m a published writer with English degrees. I didn’t realize what Medium was until March when I stumbled on it. I am so happy I did. It’s elevated my connections and career exponentially.
I’m looking forward to reading your response.
Cheers,
Aimée
https://aimeegramblin.medium.com/ — Author’s email inquiry
I am hopeful for the future of the Medium platform and for writers being paid a fair wage for the content we create for Medium’s readers. We are, after all, being paid well below minimum wage for hours put into writing.
Writing has never been a lucrative career choice, but a recent study by the Authors Guild, a professional organization for book writers, shows that it may not even be a livable one anymore. — NYT
This is not a Medium-specific issue, but a writing profession specific issue. It is time for a shift in how writers’ creations are valued. We are professional communicators. We add value and hope to this wonderful platform. Compensation in both transparent communique from Medium and in monetary compensation would go a long way in keeping your employees happy to show up for work. We add exponential value to the platform.
Medium Staff, you have an opportunity here. You can choose to pay writers fairly for our work. In so doing, you will create an outburst of positivity instead of an uprising of negativity.
I’m sure you’re familiar with the phrase from Albert Einstein: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Please learn from the past and evolve to create better strategies now.
Employ the power of reciprocity and see the magic that ensues.
Thank you, House of Haiku for the prompt and thank you, Victor Sarkin for the tag on your prompt haiku for: Mystery.
