Why Medium Should Once Again Be a Platform Where You Can’t Make Money

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he message. And they succeed not because of their talent for writing, but because they shake the money prism and most of their readers take the bait.I won’t teach you anything by saying that all you have to do is hang a one-dollar bill on the end of a wire and millions of fish will come swarming around it in the hope of getting their cut. In this story, the fisherman doesn’t need to be good at writing at all. All he has to do is use the right bait. And here it is: “Come on, I’ll teach you the art of making money by writing.”These people, let’s call them writers for the form, because in the background it is empty, are easy to recognize. They have no talent, or they do not speak about it and it is surely not writing, they publish several times a day articles that talk about Medium, money on Medium, money on the Internet, content creation, their six-figure-a-year success, how to take the same path as them, their great paid training to earn money on the platform, their incredible community that adores them and thanks them for their fabulous work, etc.I think you know who I’m talking about because these writers have unfortunately left their mark on Medium’s landscape, despite our daily efforts not to run into what they publish.One would think that the new Medium leadership—and this happens to me sometimes too— is now listening to all its user and working to make the platform work for everyone. But when it does interviews and roundtables, it is surrounded by the people described above. I wish it would listen to the poets, or just the writers, the real o

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nes, and not the manipulative content creators who are hungry for money and cardboard trophies. There are some honest, humane writers around here who make money by telling real stories. But Medium isn’t interested in them. Money, again and again…We live in a capitalist world where money is king. A world where every bit of humanity is perverted by money.I’ve come up with several scenarios to make Medium a healthy place to read and write again without pollution, where there’s nothing to buy or sell. And every time, the one that stands out is the following: the end of the Partner Program and the burial of greenbacks under tons of dirt. No more opportunity for writers to generate a single penny on Medium and back to writing. Desertion of all bullshit writers.I know, that will never happen. We live in a capitalist world where money is king. A world where every bit of humanity is perverted by money. So the platform and its executives will continue to kneel before those whose money is at the heart of their writing process.So what to do? I ask you. My hope, perhaps, is that this story will travel beyond a few miles and be read by those who still give too much attention to the wrong people on Medium. There are still so many brilliant writers to read, so many great ideas to discover and moving stories to be inspired by.There is still a lot of attention and support to be offered to writers who have real stories to tell and nothing to sell. The system won’t change for us, let’s change it by focusing on the right people.</article></body>

I’m dead serious, folks.

I don’t know if you prefer coffee or tea, but you can enjoy your favorite beverage before reading the following lines, we’ll have a nice time together. Then you can tell me your thoughts, I have always enjoyed reading you.

I started writing on Medium at a time when only the smell of literature, life stories, innocent words, sincere ideas, and strong and unforgettable emotions floated around. A time that is now gone but to which one can easily return by reading the writers published in Scribe and other pens outside who never needed carrots wrapped in greenbacks to write.

The only people who make money are those who sell you the message.

As I have often written, the Partner Program destroyed much of what made the platform beautiful and unique. With it came hordes of money-hungry people more or less honest. People who write and publish articles in a frenzied way, usually several times a day, with the sole purpose of making money and inflating their numbers, while transmitting the most terrible message: “If I win, you can win too.” Let’s be clear. The only people who make money are those who sell you the message. And they succeed not because of their talent for writing, but because they shake the money prism and most of their readers take the bait.

I won’t teach you anything by saying that all you have to do is hang a one-dollar bill on the end of a wire and millions of fish will come swarming around it in the hope of getting their cut. In this story, the fisherman doesn’t need to be good at writing at all. All he has to do is use the right bait. And here it is: “Come on, I’ll teach you the art of making money by writing.”

These people, let’s call them writers for the form, because in the background it is empty, are easy to recognize. They have no talent, or they do not speak about it and it is surely not writing, they publish several times a day articles that talk about Medium, money on Medium, money on the Internet, content creation, their six-figure-a-year success, how to take the same path as them, their great paid training to earn money on the platform, their incredible community that adores them and thanks them for their fabulous work, etc.

I think you know who I’m talking about because these writers have unfortunately left their mark on Medium’s landscape, despite our daily efforts not to run into what they publish.

One would think that the new Medium leadership—and this happens to me sometimes too— is now listening to all its user and working to make the platform work for everyone. But when it does interviews and roundtables, it is surrounded by the people described above. I wish it would listen to the poets, or just the writers, the real ones, and not the manipulative content creators who are hungry for money and cardboard trophies. There are some honest, humane writers around here who make money by telling real stories. But Medium isn’t interested in them. Money, again and again…

We live in a capitalist world where money is king. A world where every bit of humanity is perverted by money.

I’ve come up with several scenarios to make Medium a healthy place to read and write again without pollution, where there’s nothing to buy or sell. And every time, the one that stands out is the following: the end of the Partner Program and the burial of greenbacks under tons of dirt. No more opportunity for writers to generate a single penny on Medium and back to writing. Desertion of all bullshit writers.

I know, that will never happen. We live in a capitalist world where money is king. A world where every bit of humanity is perverted by money. So the platform and its executives will continue to kneel before those whose money is at the heart of their writing process.

So what to do? I ask you. My hope, perhaps, is that this story will travel beyond a few miles and be read by those who still give too much attention to the wrong people on Medium. There are still so many brilliant writers to read, so many great ideas to discover and moving stories to be inspired by.

There is still a lot of attention and support to be offered to writers who have real stories to tell and nothing to sell. The system won’t change for us, let’s change it by focusing on the right people.