The Partner Program Works Without Intervention. So Why Can’t Ev Williams Leave It Alone?
Has Medium become Ev William’s Frankenstein?
Recent changes at Medium HQ indicate that even though paid subscribers to the platform have increased, Medium is not financially better off.
The model itself is perfect. Everyone pays a subscription fee, some subscribers choose to write, some just to read. Because of this fantastic cross-over between writers and readers and the quite frankly brilliant stats page, content is perfectly tailored.
As writers are also readers they instinctively know what to write. Furthermore, writers receive instant feedback, meaning they can tailor their writing to reader’s preferences perfectly. If you were the genius that developed this platform, you technically could just sit back and watch it ticking away forever, like a beautiful old grandfather clock that you built. Occasionally you might need to oil the app a little and add some extra tools, but it’s not necessary to get involved in the content, which really should be a relief.
Well not if you’re Ev Williams. For whatever reason Ev decided that instead of the content being user-generated and therefore perfectly tailored, he knew better what people wanted to read.
I’m reading between the lines here but what appears to be the case is that there were some aesthetic concerns with the content.
Too many listicles, too many self-help articles, too much writing about Medium, and definitely too much erotica. Ignore the fact that this is what the majority of paid subscribers read. Ev did not want his baby Medium to become known for this.
So Ev started paying journalists to write real writing and then he employed an editorial team to develop not 1 but 10 or 11 publications. These exclusive publications would not accommodate the majority of Medium writers to publish there. Not the minions who fund the entire model, only writers who meet the standard.
As much as Ev claims that Medium is for anyone who wants to write and that perfection is not necessary, the facts tell a different story. Why else would he pay qualified writers?
The Amplify program also stinks of elitism. It sounds great on the surface, but if we actually look at the writers who have been selected, then a different picture begins to emerge.
From the few example articles given, there’s an article from a journalist, a published poet, a reporter, a software engineer, and a comedian. The articles are long, detailed, and frequently incorporate independent research.
Of course, as the only two short articles we have from the Amplify team are from 2019, we are all left in the dark as to whether they have become more inclusive. I would love to hear from anyone that has been selected by the Amplify team to have a career leg-up and be corrected on my opinion.
Is Amplify all that? A perusal of the Medium homepages of those mentioned by the team indicates that most are not writing regularly on Medium. Some haven’t contributed for over two years. Either Amplify helped them move on to bigger and better things or the program didn’t help them become more successful or prolific writers.
In order to have a chance of being selected, writers may have to adopt a different style and self-publish. If you begin writing articles in order to appeal to Amplify will you run the risk of alienating your current readers? After all, writers have a style and a niche.
Self-publishing and changing style and topic is risky. Writing stories that people don’t read is demoralizing. This is even more so on Medium, where not only are you paid per read, but it is also clear how successful your article has been from the claps awarded. Are readers less likely to read your articles if the claps are minuscule?
Ultimately, it takes a very strong confident writer to write an article that might not be popular with regular readers. Are you going to have to unlearn everything you have learned about writing for your audience to appeal to Amplify?
Everything seems shrouded in mystery about Amplify. I hope that it’s not about helping writers who don’t need help, those who are already halfway there.
However, the program does not mean a writer will become more prolific. And ultimately, as great as a financial and editorial boost from editors at Medium would be, the best way to improve my writing on Medium is to write more on Medium.
Every day I have the privilege of discovering what readers actually want to read. There is no other platform out there that makes starting to write incredibly accessible, contains so much encouragement from other writers, or gives you such detailed stats.
Therefore, I’m incredibly grateful for the platform with or without Amplify. I hope that the program is of benefit to a diverse range of writers, not just those who have the time to conduct their own research or write perfectly.