Why Most of Us Aren’t Getting Paid Thousands of Dollars on Medium

It’s more difficult than you think.

I have just read an article here on Medium talking about the frustration of not getting paid a fair amount on here. The author does not understand the real reason why people do not read our articles from beginning to end. It has nothing to do with Medium. It has more to do with us as humans.

The Real Reason Why.

A few years ago, a Canadian study showed that our attention span decreased from 12 to eight seconds. Shorter than a goldfish. For this reason, we all scan articles and blogs instead of reading those that are over three minutes long all the way through. Think about it, have you ever skimmed an article without reading it thoroughly? I’m sure you have.

It is partly due to technology that we are like this. Yes, social media, but I do not want to entirely blame them. How long do people stay on a feed before scrolling down? Probably not very long.

In broadcasting school, I learned how to write 15, 30, 60, and 90 second radio and TV commercials. There are a lot of 15 second ads on social media because that is the best way to get a person’s attention. If not, they will scroll past them.

The problem isn’t just that we are on our phones all the time; people today think they can multitask since there isn’t enough time to do one single thing. By doing more than one thing, they want to save time. No one is capable of multitasking. I know there are some of you who claim to be able to multitask. I have an article Why Do Employers Still ask You to Multitask? that contains some tests you can try, only once, to prove you wrong.

The other issue is our perception of time. Our days are too short to do everything we want to do.

Let’s face it, most people prefer to look at Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok than read an essay on cleaning hacks. For them, watching a video is much easier to follow than reading a blog.

Moreover, not everyone in the world wishes to be a member of Medium. It’s the truth. No matter how many times you invite them to join the Partner Program.

The Competition.

Yes, there are thousands of Content Creators in the world. You have to compete with everyone else to get more people to read your article. This is becoming more difficult. If you put your blog out there and wish for a thousand readers and follow any of their advice on how to get 100 followers, you will not get that many.

What Are We To Do Now?

Most of the new writers here are giving up easily due to the reality of getting paid five dollars a month instead of one hundred. No matter how many times you promote your articles on social media, it is difficult to get more eyes on them. Everyone does not have a million followers. I don’t.

You cannot do much about this. It is human nature at its worst. You just need to keep writing. Consider it a fun activity. You never know when you will reach that $100 a month mark on Medium. It may be in six months, a year, or maybe five years. Who knows?

To get the pay that you deserve, you might have to do something else. To cope with rising costs of living, many people are doing gig work at the same time.

References

Brennan, D. (2021, November 9). Short Attention Span: What Causes it and What to Do. WebMD. Retrieved March 9, 2022, from https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/short-attention-spans

Ebstein, J. (2021, July 6). Our attention span is shorter than a goldfish’s. Here’s what we can do about it | Commentary. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved March 9, 2022, from https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/guest-commentary/os-op-attention-span-dwindling-20210706-rwv2owqhezbp5hkmyqqtpmiq4u-story.html

Legg, T. J. (n.d.). Short Attention Span: Signs, Causes & Ways to Pay Attention Better. Healthline. Retrieved March 9, 2022, from https://www.healthline.com/health/short-attention-span#risk-factors

McClinton, D. (2019, April 16). Global attention span is narrowing and trends don’t last as long, study reveals. The Guardian. Retrieved March 9, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/16/got-a-minute-global-attention-span-is-narrowing-study-reveals

McSpadden, K. (2015, May 14). You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish. TIME. Retrieved March 9, 2022, from https://time.com/3858309/attention-spans-goldfish/