Is Medium finally being fair?
It seems like a lot of changes. It's not. It's all part of one big change.
Happy Friday…
Sometimes I’m utterly stunned at the number of people who can’t put two and two together, if you know what I mean. Sorry if this comes across as harsh because I don’t mean it to be. But, cripes, already.
There’s been a lot of talk about Medium on Medium lately. Meta mania.
First, the April bonus and speculation about who got it and why.
Then omg, “PS I Love You” is closing their doors.
And now the May bonus that came out yesterday.
There’s been a lot of change on Medium lately. Except there hasn’t.
Not really.
There’s been one change. ONE.
But it was a massive change and all the rest are just the aftershocks that tend to happen when an earthquake is above the midpoint of the Richter scale.
How Medium used to work…
Most writers were the riff raff. People like me, who bang out some stories and hope they do well. Sometimes, they did. Sometimes they were duds.
It wasn’t that way for all writers. Not everyone scratched and hoped. Some writers were getting paid minimums under the table. Because Medium thought they were “big” names that would bring in paying members.
That inequality was everywhere.
Medium publications paid under the table too. If you got an article into One Zero or any of the “inhouse” pubs, they paid $300 plus whatever the writer earned in reads.
It wasn’t just handpicked people, either.
Medium also paid handpicked publications under the table. Like, PS I Love You was funded under the table. So they could hire paid editors. So was The Ascent and a handful of others, but those are the only two that have been confirmed.
It was frustrating as shat for anyone who wasn’t among the golden selected. I’d work my butt off and send Medium 10K “external” readers from Google and earn 82 cents while some other writer got $300 because Medium handpicked them.
The Medium “experience” was not the same for every-one because it wasn’t an equal platform to begin with. Most of us struggled to grow our readers and publications while others got paid for showing up. Not only was it unfair to all of us…
It didn’t work.
How Medium works now
Last December Ev posted a year end update. He basically said they’re turfing all the stuff that was paid under the table. No more paid editors on Medium publications. No more publications paid under the table. No more people paid under the table.
It’s didn’t work.
When they analyzed their data, what they discovered is that all those people and publications they “thought” were going to bring in new members — didn’t.
Know where the bulk of their new paying members come from?
The riff-raff.
People like you and me. I wrote about that here…
Now the money they used to pay to all the hand picked people is going to the people who actually bring in readers that convert to members. By way of one time bonuses. For how long? Who knows. I’ll enjoy them while they last.
To me, it’s starting to feel like the platform is becoming more equal. I like not feeling like a second class citizen over there anymore. It’s starting to feel more fair. Like the average person actually has a shot now that no one is hand picked.
I dunno. That’s just my thoughts — what do you think?
xo, Linda
Writing Challenge…
Vocal is running an animal photography writing challenge so I’m entering a few of my favorites. If you like my writing, please do give these a read… enjoy!
* * *
The Big Bad Wolf Was Only Ever A Big Fat Lie
How I made a Timber wolf laugh and captured it in a photo.
The Eyes Are The Windows To The Soul
If you think you need a better camera, I'm going to share a secret with you.
Thought for the day
“When you look a wild animal in the eye, it's like catching a glimpse
into the soul of nature itself” ― Paul Oxton
Clicking the heart is free and a nice way to say you enjoy my writing. :)
If you’re reading in email, click the title to like or comment.
Have a great weekend…
xo,
Linda
I feel the same way about the feeling of more equality now. Finally the people pouring and typing their hearts out have a shot at being noticed. And it's sort of fun to watch the old top paid writers complain now 😂😂
Thanks for filling us in on what's new/old with Medium. I've written in the past; life interrupted but I'm ready to dive in again. So your news is quite welcome - thanks!
On the wolf, Buddy, you might be interested in reading about the re-introduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park, starting in 1995. I've read two books about that particular project and fell in love with wolves - what's not to love? Author is Rick McIntyre who became part of this project and a very steady wolf observer - his first book is about Wolf 8, a smaller gray (not black) wolf who turned out to be a fabulous alpha male and leader. Second is about his son Wolf 21 - I cried at the end of that book, reading about his solitary death.
Why should you read them? Learn about wolves, so much! And their families, connections, their hunts, the pups. I'm totally hooked on wolves now! And the story continues in Yellowstone! YAY! (BTW, the scientists gave them numbers to keep from anthropomorphizing them. But man are they hard not to love!)