Why I Left Medium
On November 10, 2014 I published my first article on Medium. I had published other pieces elsewhere, but it was my first on this new-to-me platform. It was also the first time I published my own work instead of writing for publications.
Being part of a community of writers was an exciting prospect. Especially with a larger pool of readers and an algorithm for like-minded writers. They also offered great tools, a no-frills editor, and a lovely theme.
Then it happened. They stroked my ego and sucked me in. After publishing my third article I got an email from the editors. They said they wanted to feature and promote my piece. Whoop!
My intentions were to focus on pieces about design and code. But this piece was not that. At all. It was an essay about the aftermath of Darren Wilson murdering Michael Brown in Ferguson.
It made me nervous to have my voice on the matter amplified. But the thought of it was also intoxicating. With my white privilege and a platform, I could take advantage of intergroup bias. I had spent time protesting in the streets. Why not supplement this with a safer protest: the written word.
So I granted them permission to run with it. And, man, did they ever. About 2,600 people read that piece.
It wasn’t the first time I had a large audience, and it wouldn’t be the last. But it was the first time it happened with an essay on something so personal. I felt both vulnerable and empowered. And my faith in Medium was immediately validated.
So I wrote. 34 articles in all. I was all-in. Until I wasn’t.
Mistaken Identity
Medium was never sure of its identity. But its true-north is to follow revenue, wherever it leads them. According to The Verge, “…internal data showed that it largely was not high-quality journalism that was leading readers to subscribe: it was random stories posted to the platform by independent writers that happened to get featured by the Google or Facebook algorithms.”
There’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting more eyes on more pieces. But submission to FANG algorithms is a dark journey. It’s the very thing that turns a writing community into a tabloid. And it’s precisely what’s been chipping away at Medium’s integrity.
Three specific changes are significant to me. They are the reasons I decided to walk away:
- Pay-to-win membership
- Editor-promotion of clickbait articles
- Gatekeeping to force account creation
Pay-to-Win Membership
Medium discovered that it was their community writers that were bringing in traffic. But in order for content creators to earn money, we have to pay a monthly subscription fee. That’s right. We bring the traffic, we bring the content, and Medium reaps the rewards.
Sure, they pay the writers. But it’s quite minimal and the payout algorithm is convoluted. It depends on the following:
- Paid-member views that are open at least 30 seconds, divided by total number of views
- Engagement (time open, claps, highlights, and responses)
- Getting a boost (if Medium decides to promote)
- Member read-ratio adjustment (percentage of paid members on a given day adjusts all other points)
Imagine trying to even figure out if they’re paying you fairly. Do they even know? And you’re only eligible if you’ve paid your membership fee. If your earnings are less than your membership fee, you’re paying Medium for your work and your traffic.
Editor-Promotion of Clickbait Articles
As mentioned, Medium’s focus shifted to those wild FANG algorithms. And what do FANG algorithms love? Clickbait. So what does Medium promote? Clickbait. Don’t get me wrong, they do feature some fantastic pieces. But most of what I see in their emails and on my home page are clickbait. “Sensational” stories is literally part of the dictionary definition of a tabloid.
Gatekeeping to Force Account Creation
Before reading a Medium article, readers must pass through a membership gate. They’re asked to sign-up for a free account or pay for membership. So I can’t share my articles and essays — my work — without subjecting readers to a barrier. This doesn’t serve me or my readers, it only serves Medium.
It hasn’t always been this way. I used to be able to share a link, and people would read. Done. Then the paywalls and gatekeeping began. For me, this was the final straw. Especially because Medium was profiting off my work, not me.
A New Home on Write.as
I’m glad this happened, though. I hadn’t realized what I was missing by publishing my own work on my terms.
It feels nice to have settled into a new home, and to see that I haven’t lost anything en route. I thought for sure I’d lose a lot of readers. But I haven’t. In fact, I’m gaining momentum and seeing an increase. It turns out only ~4% of my reads were coming from the help of Medium. ~96% of the traffic was being generated on my own. Which I hope that’s a testament to my quality of work.
The process took some time and some elbow grease. But I did it. I designed my templates, migrated my pieces from Medium to Write.as, and began publishing new work.
I’m going to keep my Medium account open with a few public pieces still in place. There’s a link history there that I don’t want to lose. And the awesome folks at UX Collective published a piece that I want to keep in place. But I won’t be publishing there anymore.
With that, I invite you to subscribe or follow me via email or RSS. And if you’re on Mastodon you can even follow Mark W.rites there (or from anywhere in the fediverse).
Thanks, everyone! I appreciate you so very much. 🙌🏻
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