The State Of Medium — A Writer’s Ask; An Open Letter to Medium

A Writer’s Worry — A Programmer's Plight — What is Well and What could be Right?

©Joanie Adams — Joanie Adams; Gift A Tea: https://ko-fi.com/joanieadamms

Ah, the Writer’s worry, the Programmers plight — Where do we both find ourselves?; Where to begin?

I shan’t be doing all the thinking for you, rather leaving an open hatchway for considerate discussion about our beloved platform here. I don’t wish to contrive the woe betiding us, nor do I hope this becomes old-fashioned by the grooving Thursday of next week, but let us begin.

I am willing to be wrong and open to parley with you all in sincere debate.

I’ve found it awfully distracting and disheartening with the fluctuating state of Medium in the recent week, perhaps this was foreseeable after the Goldrush of August, and the implications of this Curation system to boost stories that illuminate the site; I did wake to such tidings with that cold nostalgic feeling — ever remarkably uncanny.

I tend to back away from such open letters as this, done in such a manner — but I’m worried about the direction Medium may be pitching themselves, which a number of factors could be siring;

Such as poorly conceived, yet well-intentioned plans to boost certain creators, whilst perhaps not fully conceiving of the knock-on effect it takes to boost said pieces over others. Are those coffers, not necessarily running dry, rather the funding may be more limited than what is hoped for; especially in such an endeavor as that.

How quickly things can fall apart — especially if the effort ceases to be done well. We can all upset things into motion, but was it the right motion to put underway? The difficulty of changing up the way of their algorithms — Oh, the golden Caliphate gleams smugly at us, like how we used to gleam at them. when we felt the protection of our own advanced craft was indomitable.

My perception of Medium, however naive may it be, was intentioned well, to keep themselves from becoming like other consorted social networks that shan’t be named, though you know what I am alluding to — Oh lord, save from the litigations!

In many ways, Medium isn’t at all like said networks, it requires effort which may be the brandishing shock-horror to some who much prefer to spout off into the void without much care for consequences; give them liberty and they forget to think.

But I suppose in fairness, if one hopes to be successful at any of the given platforms concurrently going about, one has to be tactful and willing to put in the needed effort to make it fruitful; just with Medium, you haven’t got all the unnecessary governances of the others. Insert facetime…

I’ve been in and around Medium’s clasp for a good number of months now, becoming a member in March of this year — and my, how things change in the unrelenting march of time. That being said, August was certainly a joyous thing to witness; not for the wealth or for the gold, but rather for the viewership and this brings me to a point: With all good Platforms that have the ability to expose the ones that are good with their spoken craft, grafting well with vigor, isn’t it more about the visibility they can procure the individual rather than the Green dollar?

The cash is certainly a nice prospect to entertain, but if it isn’t sustainable, it is like waving a carrot in front of a mule, which is slowly munched away until just the greens remain, with no replacement in near sight. Would it be better for Medium to allow one to build up a good platform here, for the Individual to then employ the loyalties of said audience elsewhere?

Building a Newsletter — driving an audience to purchase a book or to donate a one-off parcel of what they believe to be the worth of a given thing; perhaps even allowing for large things, from the sprouted seeds that a platform such as Medium with the aforementioned tools can allow?

I know also, that not all who write on here with passion expect a few more than a nickel and a dime tossed in their back pockets; but this is rather a concern for the ones who do. By my goodness, I respect your lack of care for such! Truly, I do!

A timely thing and concern to ask: Why don’t they run advertisements on the site or attract sponsors of some kind?

I can already hear many reasons why they haven’t already, but if they wish to sustain the viability of their Writers here, there must be some assurance to the Writer that could have a possibility of earning an income or a significant part of said income, or have the visibility to then procure an income through their writer elsewhere. Uterinalizing the Platform which elevates them to allow them to do so.

I can give a multitude of examples of how to do it well — but I will pipe myself down to just Two. I get around far and wide in my reading, making much use of The Collector. Hearing what these big-heads have to say about these substances and ideas.

Now when one leads on their blue expanse and scrolls through to find an article willing to feed the tastes of the now, they will gleam the explicit usage of advertisement there. Sometimes obscuring the words and causing a mild panic to the reader, especially on Mobile when those sneaky billboards flash at the bottom of one's screen.

That being said, it is a method of providing assurance to the writers of their stock. Not everybody can just simply stroll in and write for them, as you must have on your person some special type of composition to say you can vouch truthfully over what you write and not just any old Ne’er-do-well spouting poetically over something they don’t grasp.

And, for the most part, I agree with it all. I don’t mind the advertisement, especially if it fills the bowls of any sullen writer. So there is that example — very empirical of me.

Another site I will briefly mention is Aeon/Psyche— and their lovely daily newsletter I will add, which is how I primarily parlay with them and their curation.

This is a similarly booked submission site like the Collector; perhaps with a larger processing time on one’s given piece, I have yet to experience it,

Donations are on the forefront of their central page, giving me the first impression that it must provide a reasonable amount to their monthly upkeep, especially when it comes down to paying those good things known as writers! Situated in the top-right corner, next to the Newsletter prompt, and the second one away from the image of you and your created profile.

But there it is briefly said — I wish to speak further about this certain site but I would rather do that empirically than just the pure doctoring conjecture of mine here! However, they do actively pursue you to donate, which I believe is utterly fair of them, since, like the Collector, they offer up their content for free; The nature of Donations as I believe them to be as of now, will be spoken of just a little on.

I return to this: I cannot believe the Five-dollars-per-month-or-Fifty-for-a-year model can sustain them if they suddenly heighten the rate at which they boost certain stories around — this is purely being said as conjecture, but conjecture with a monocle firmly squeezed in the right socket.

Once, it may have sustained them, though I am aware of the varying rates a writer may gain over the year, especially when considering the fiscal current here, the shifting around of the complicated gears that make such a platform here will alter things in due course.

The individual writer will certainly feel that, though not in the same exact, potentially as your neighboring writer, I hear some saying they haven’t been affected as strongly by it, whilst others, especially with a considerable amount of subscribers and followers, are affected heavily to the point that their stories hardly receive any kind of traction.

Throughout this piece you will certainly see me talking about the Model, Systems, and Platform, but not much about the Individual reader and the nature of certain groupings of readers. Certainly, we may be all individuals in conception, but we do become ossified into a certain grouping by shared clarifications, habits, and beliefs — you know of the type I speak of, the dashing in and dashing out type, which may be heightened by certain turnings in the algorithm — potentially. Again, all conjecture on my part here, for now.

Diversifying their ways of making income — why don’t they do that, or rather, why haven’t they done that?; by expanding the monthly rate into a tier system, a bit like a Patreon. Five dollars a month gives you what we have now, whilst having a higher tier in the range of Ten dollars would not only benefit the platform as a whole but include some additional features that would benefit the writer certainly wouldn’t go a miss if my presumptions are pressed well.

What these benefits are is left to be said, perhaps by you all. I leave it open there — but having an additional tier of maybe Twenty dollars to simply be the level for the ones who wish to give back and support Medium, like a donation but ongoing — I have spoken about Donations shortly beforehand, so this nicely segways into that.

My perhaps somewhat naive conception of Donations is, to provide something of use to the on-looker, and see if they’ll sink their hand into their pockets or wallet or virtual bank vault and happily oblige the calling reception; They don’t necessarily need to pay top-dollar monthly — perhaps due to the lack of time, but they still appreciate the content and may then give off a one-time donation in response to the time they have just spent. Even if it is for just one good hour of reading.

Now, for them to become fully paying members over a lengthy period of time is the golden chalice to drink and rejuvenate from. But the hope is they’ll naturally engage with the Writer and their works, and it would be awfully winsome of them to then spread the word around to their mates and lovers about the certain piece that fluttered their heart or shot it down from hope by the needed rain-check about a given situation; perhaps enticing them to a new plain of ideas.

It may be idealism all this, but if this fundamental relationship between Reader and Writer is cracked or misaligned, it may be sounding a foredooming tone over this wealthy thing construed by the expanse of the internet — this lucky happenstance we have. Consequently commencing it all away into shadow — because regardless of whatever system, if this fundamental thread isn’t there, few things could even possibly provide what the precious relationship between Reader and Writer is.

Doing the old trick of making it $4.99 and $9.99 may entice the not-so-observant into believing it doesn’t cost as much!

I have read a good number of pieces concerning this particular situation we have stumbled into, perhaps not to our surprise, if we gleam our reflecting qualities. A few I shall lead you into are one by the good Aussie, Mike, and by the good Sarah. I shan’t talk for them, rather leaving it open to you and creating this open discourse between us all; here they so are:

Mike Broadly — What Happened to Medium This Week?:

Sarah Jean — Not My Medium Earnings!:

Though it is good to write without any preconceived notions at all, purely breaking my rule of never publishing first drafts — Better to be damned after it!; I much prefer to stick to my Goodness And Wellness and Poems stretching over the vastness of time, with the bud of refinement to them. I have many ideas planned especially for Medium — and the process I have refined around it has been very valuable to me; so my gambles and wagers are now made transparent, but I cannot speak of this all without considering my friends and their hopes.

I do admire what Medium is and was — it certainly has afforded me not only a platform that I hope to nourish as time goes by [KendalinJane don’t you snicker at any mentions of time I make!] but also friends who would’ve slipped away in the night without this confabulating space, such as the aforementioned Dreamweaver herself, Philip Writes — Anisa H. — Mandrake Pan and numerous others;- a tactful ploy of mine, because I do tend to forget names, not out of spite, but my — I do meet many people over my travels.

So I leave you with this, my dearest readers: Anything like this, made for the wealth of knowledge and the sharing delight of stories is always a delicate thing — sway too much one way over the other, we may topple over the precipice into a realm of shadow which belies us to baleful prospects.

We must temper our expectations to our current needs, and hold true to what we must; build and nurture what we have in hopes that one seed may grow into a flourishing crop.

I believe the best way to support each other in this current situation is simply to give one another the time to read and consider their words. Perhaps, with that, may stave off the departure of Medium’s best writers.

Ta-ta now, I have good faith in this situation; the writer’s hat can always be tipped but tipped too far and they stumble onto the street.

COME ALONG WITH THE DOCTOR’S NEWSLETTER

NEVER PUBLISH FIRST DRAFTS:

The Curation; Our Publication:

TAKING THE LONG WALK — THE HEALING ART OF SOLITARY WALKING:

As ever, Dear Reader.