A writer leaving - created by Bing
My Medium annual subscriptions expire tomorrow, and I won’t be renewing them, but I don’t want to leave Medium without giving an explanation.
Friend of Medium
For me, the introduction of “Friend of Medium” has changed Medium’s atmosphere and has made Medium even more like a social media platform.
There seems to be more emphasis on clapping, highlighting, commenting and scrolling for 30 seconds rather than writing and reading.
Judging by February’s results, there is no way I will be able to break even without doing what I don’t want to do.
The additional benefits of being a “Friend of Medium” are:
- Writers earn 4x when you read their stories.
- Share member-only stories with anyone and drive more earnings for writers.
Four-times earnings
How much a writer earns from a “Friend of Medium” depends on how many other interactions the “Friend of Medium” has. This can dilute the earnings, resulting in low earnings per read.
Some writers say they decided to become a “Friend of Medium” so that they could support other writers. This is very laudable, but the problem with this method is that it is difficult to control which writers get how much. A much better way of rewarding is to use “tipping”, as most writers have enabled this feature.
Sharing member-only stories
I haven’t had the opportunity to do this. I wonder if you have made use of this benefit.
Member
I could stop being a “Friend of Medium” and remain a Medium member, but I am concerned that, with the introduction of “Friend of Medium”, ordinary members will get even less attention.
Given that my stories are earning only four cents per read, members’ stories will earn less than one cent per read.
Medium has made many changes since I became a member:
“Three Free Reads a Month” stopped
For new writers, recognition may be more important than earnings. This is why I was very disappointed when Medium removed the three free reads per month from their model. Being able to sample authors’ stories was one of the factors which contributed to my becoming a Medium member.
Removal of the referral program
Although Medium says that the Referral Bonus hasn’t been a great success, removing it removes yet another earning opportunity. This increases the chances of making a loss.
If you are missing this earning opportunity, you may want to become a Learning Pages Member and get a referral link with similar rewards.
Earnings Bias
Some Members have told Medium they want to read — and some authors want to write — deep, nuanced, human stories. The new payout calculation will be more biased towards this kind of story. Unfortunately, I don’t write this type of story, so my earnings will be even less.
Many members subscribe because they are interested in AI, cryptocurrency, science, learning, and the environment. Biasing payments against these topics could mean fewer will be written and more readers cancelling their subscriptions.
Introduction of “Friend of Medium”
The introduction of FoM, along with claps highlights and comments-related earnings, have encouraged “interact and run”.
My Decisions
I had two decisions to make:
- Whether to remain a “Friend of Medium” and
- Whether to cancel my membership.
I like to have criteria when I make a decision. Here are some of the criteria that I will be using to make these decisions:
I don’t want to:
- Feel pressured to write one or more stories a day.
- Feel obliged to respond to writers who respond to my stories.
- Make a loss.
I want to:
- Write about what interests me — not what is dictated by an algorithm.
- Read about what interests me — not what is dictated by an algorithm.
Additionally, in the last month, three writers, whom I consider to be the most respected and trusted have had their accounts blocked while under review.
Was it an algorithm that blocked these writers, or were they reported for something they didn’t do? This is another example of how Medium’s atmosphere has changed.
When I tried to visit their pages, I was redirected and confronted with a crude error page. Medium should show more respect to their writers and readers.
This was the last straw. I will be posting on sites where there is no third-party intervention.
What’s Next?
To be fair to Medium’s members, I won’t publish any new paywalled stories. Existing stories will remain paywalled because making them free to read wouldn’t be fair to my subscribers on other platforms. I could remove them, but republishing them if I decide to return to Medium would be breaking Medium’s rules.
This will be the last paywalled story I publish on Medium unless , of course , I rejoin.
You can still read my blogs on Hive-powered platforms and Learning Pages.
Hive
Hive runs on a Web3 blockchain. I decided to publish my articles on PeakD, but you can also read them on other Hive-powered platforms such as InLeo and Hive Blog.
I chose PeakD because of its reliability and intuitive interface. Like other Hive-powered platforms, it uses Markdown to create formatted text.
Markdown generally has more formatting options, like tables and more headers, than the Markdown editor.
I write my articles using Mardown, which I can then paste into the PeakD editor and convert into a webpage using a Python script that I wrote.
There will be a period when my PeakD blog will be catching up with Medium.
Learning Pages
New articles are announced on the Learning Pages Blog.
Supporters can, for only £10 a year, get:
- an optional newsletter,
- access exclusive and early-access articles.
I also publish free articles.
Receive email notifications when I publish new articles.
Conclusions
I have learned a lot about writing while I have been a Medium member.
I have enjoyed interacting with many members and reading their stories. Luckily, some of these members write on other platforms or provide a link to read their stories.
I may become a Medium member again once the FoM frenzy has completely died down. I won’t become a “Friend of Medium” again.
Also published on Medium today.