Skip to main content

Why, After 3 Years, I Canceled My Medium Membership

 

The platform feeds off writers like me.

I first began writing on Medium around 2016.

The first account was canceled by Medium for being promotional after a couple of years, which it wasn’t.

I then started with another account around 2018, which is the account I’m currently using.

In the late part of 2022, I started writing more seriously on Medium and became a member, which I’ve been until now.

For a few months, I was even a Friend of Medium, but the rest of the time just a basic $5/month member.

I’ve published 145 articles so far.

I’ve decided to cancel my basic membership, yet it will still be valid for four days from today.

Most writers on Medium will understand why I’m canceling, yet I would guess I stuck it out longer than most — three years of continuous membership.

All in all, I’ve probably made around half of what I’ve put into the platform, and for the most part, the articles on Medium aren’t worth paying to read — unless you want to hear about how successful the liberal-minded writers are who fit the mold here (the small click that actually makes money).

Medium isn’t a place where conservative-minded people can do well, as far as I’ve seen; judging by my own experience as a conservative and having never seen another conservative being boosted or doing well.

I’ve never been boosted or curated here.

The struggle for me is I like this writing platform, yet it doesn’t like me…

All the writers who did like me over these years are gone as far as I can tell.

As far as I can tell, all there is here is a hundred or so liberal-minded writers who fit the mold and make money; the rest are bots, spammers, and fly-by-night marketing types — the ones who follow thousands of people and then unfollow them after they get a certain amount of followers, etc.

Medium isn’t about rewarding people for their writing, nor giving writers an equal chance to be read and appreciated; rather, it is simply a place where they suck the money from the vast majority of writers and reward the click of brown nosers who fit their liberal-minded mold.

Maybe, I shouldn’t expect any more from a place called “Medium”, which alludes to occultic practices…

Medium, in my opinion, has the best design and experience for writers and readers, yet this benefit no longer outweighs the negatives for me.

The biggest negative is losing money every month. This trend has been getting worse and worse until now I make nearly nothing (less than .50 cents) even with 5–10 articles published each month.

I find that publications don’t help much either.

Medium simply doesn’t give the vast percentage of articles any visibility. The management actively suppresses 95% of the writers, so they lose money each month.

That is the model Medium has in mind — market the platform as a place where any writer can come and make money, yet actively suppress 95% of them, so the 5% and management can make money off them…

Well, they are no longer going to make any money off me each month. I know it isn’t much, but that is the attitude they are counting on, for us to continue paying the $5-$15/month thinking we can somehow build ourselves on the platform and eventually make money.

Well, I’ve done this consistently for 3 years, writing 145 original articles, and I haven’t built anything except for their bank accounts.

Think about it, 200k writers paying $5/month = $1 million each month. Plus the “Friends of Medium” suckers…

Then, they pay about 4% of writers enough to keep them hoping (say $5-$100/month) and about 1% of writers above $100. There are probably about 100 writers who make more than $500/month, and a dozen that make more than $1k/mo.

Overall, they probably pay out around $1 million to writers each year, which leaves the management and owners $11 million/year just from membership dues…

Think about it writers, Medium is a scam.

Funny, they make a big deal about booting scammers off the platform while they are the real scammers…

And we are the real suckers.

This is why I’m done trying on Medium as a member.

I will continue to publish articles here because it does have good SEO authority, yet I will be $5 richer every month.

Plus, I like being a conservative Christian on a very liberal-minded platform; what good does it do to preach to the choir always?

So writers, don’t follow me or read my articles thinking I will help you make money.

Maybe they will even boot me off the platform as a useless eater…Oh well…

The sad part is I’m not losing anything, I’m actually gaining something from canceling my membership — and you might consider doing the same.

Blessings in Jesus my writing friends, it’s been fun. I’m moving on to more equitable efforts.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What Does the Future Look Like in Ten Years?

Tech will rule nearly everyone all the time. Ten years isn’t a very long period of time, yet with online technology exponentially growing, it is a long time for things to change. Already, look at what we’ve seen change since the smartphones came out in 2010! In just 16 years, our country doesn’t even resemble itself from before. This is the period of time when the Z generation came of age as well, around 2020, which also has changed things drastically. In ten years (2036), the Alpha generation will be 11-26 years old, therefor coming of age. This will change things drastically again, as this generation is the first to never know a world without a smartphone. The online world, smartphones, and smart tech, is ruining people’s character. Social media, social engineering, is ruining people’s values. The younger generations mostly have bad characters and will only get worse as technology becomes even more prevalent (the destruction of the Biblical family by feminism is key for this to happe...

Is Writing on Medium and Vocal Worth It?

Honestly, the writing site, Medium, is my favorite from the user friendly and quality aspects with reading and writing. I like the concept, the pay structure, how it works in theory. Why then, am I not writing there anymore? Deleting my Medium writing account wasn’t an easy decision, and I’ve had some times of regret in losing what I considered the best compilation of my articles online, yet, overall, it was a good move for me. When it comes down to what matters, where we write makes a difference in our identity as a writer and person. Medium continued to show me that it had much different values than I did as a conservative Protestant Christian. That is the main reason I’m glad I’m not there anymore. Yes, it is a shame that I had to delete hundreds of articles, all chronologically published, representing my work in a professional and quality way on their excellent writing and publishing site. And, the yearly membership fee really wasn’t very much, around $60, and I probably made aroun...

New Book Release: Staying Optimistic While Being Realistic

  My 9th book has been published called Staying Optimistic While Being Realistic . It is a collection of 13 society articles from the perspective of a Protestant Christian, middle-aged, married, Oregonian man from Dec. 2022 until Nov. 2023. Essentially, this book is a social analysis of 2023 American culture, society, politics, and Christian faith. With an added introduction and 13 color photos, this book is 80 pages in print and around the same as an eBook. The main theme is society, specifically American society, yet drawing on the general term as a way to explore the complexities and challenges of people in terms of finding the truth of themselves and the reality around them beyond the periphery. I have a B.S. in Human Services, so this is part of my service to fellow humans. Making it easier to digest my writing efforts in hopes readers will find valuable inspiration inside that will direct their course with more stability, reason, peace, and faith in a loving God. Eventually,...

Writing articles on LinkedIn vs. Medium

For those of us who believe our writing is a reflection of our values and a unique expression of our souls, finding the right platform to write on is important. Of course, there are practical aspects we must consider as well, depending on the purpose and reason for the words, etc. In this respect, I want to explore the idea of writing on LinkedIn vs. Medium. For non-robot people who actually take the time to write from their hearts instead of using AI to create some “content.” AI writers may create content, but they are not writers; they are just using words (however manifested) to essentially get attention and make money. Medium is a very clean and user friendly platform for writers, and the possibility of making money there with their partner program sounds great, especially, considering the popularity of the site. Yet, I’ve found through much effort, Medium is simply an illusion for 99% of the writers that find their way there, paying their monthly dues. See, you have to now pay Med...