Medium Has A Problem They Can't Solve
Happy Friday,
I’ve always treated Medium a bit like a sandbox. A place to go play when I need a break from work.
You know why, right?
Because it’s not reliable as far as income goes. Never has been. Never can be.
This month is a perfect example.
I’ve only written 3 posts on Medium in May. For perspective, I wrote 10 in March, and 10 in April. But my pay for May is higher than March or April and pretty close to both of those months combined.
That’s not remotely reliable. Writers can’t assume writing means getting paid. Because it doesn’t.
Who would keep a job like that?
Only people who don’t need the income, I guess. Otherwise, no one could keep a job if the amount of work and the amount of pay had nothing to do with each other.
It’s a problem Medium can’t solve.
They can’t solve the problem because the amount writers earn there is related to reads and they can’t make anyone read. You know?
In the long run, it’s not about how much we write. It’s about how much we get read. Medium does not control that. They can’t.
They can try, and they do. They can curate posts. Call them “popular” even if they’re not. They can throw a few more distribution tags on a distributed post. But when push comes to shove, they can’t make people read.
And? It doesn’t help that when writers are frustrated, they tend to read less. I suspect happy writers are the most active readers.
Standing at a crossroads
Medium is full of people saying write more. Write more, it’s the solution. But the truth is, it’s not. And once we realize that output has absolutely nothing to do with reads or pay, then we find ourselves standing at a crossroads.
The first road is to just accept that that’s how it is. That we write because we love writing. Because we can’t “not” write, and accept that pay will fluctuate wildly and there’s not much we can do about it. Keep on keeping on.
The second road is to ask ourselves how Medium can be part of a bigger picture. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.
I guess there’s a third path. It’s the path out of the forest. Lots of people have messaged me to say they’re frustrated and leaving Medium. That’s not an option for me. I love the community, but I’d sure love to make it feel like a better use of time.
What about you? Have you been frustrated with Medium lately, or is your experience less bumpy and unreliable than mine?
***
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
More reading…
P.S. If you’re reading this in email, click the title to get to the online version where you can leave comments, like on Medium.
xo,
Linda
I’ve hit a wall with Medium. I’m not sure what to do about it. My output is way down. So much of what I read makes me angry and I’m tired of being angry.
Medium tried to be an A-list publication with high profile personalities, but it’s never going to happen. Medium writers are the people who write week enough to get published in the newspaper. Now we can make money at it. If we stay long enough we find our niche, improve, build a writing routine, and get readers. I follow, clap, highlight, and post comments with newcomers. It’s a great community. I’m finally making $5 a month. My goal is $25 and that only happens if I add new information.