Why I let Medium.com get paid
Last updated: 09 Feb 2021
I read (or imagined?) a rumor that Medium.com does not curate articles that aren’t metered to earn money for Medium.com. (Forgot where I read that.)
In any case, I realize I may be hurting Medium.com by making my articles free rather than have them pay Medium.com via readership.
I’ll be using Twitter to continue making my articles free to read, while getting Medium.com paid by readers who don’t bother to go to my Twitter to obtain Friend Links.
The reason I write is to share knowledge and learning. Helping Medium.com grow stronger will certainly help it reach more beneficiaries.
Educational Articles vs Random List of Facts (RLOF™)
My Medium.com profile page links to all educational articles I write; I don’t want to shout out my opinion pieces. All of my educational articles are properly sectioned for good flow that facilitates learning. (How many “list of 5 things” can a human remember?!)
One of the reasons I don’t subscribe to Medium.com is the lack of educational articles. Listicles abound. (I’m looking at you https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/ !)
I’m hoping that my educational articles, when put behind Medium.com’s paywall, can help Medium.com grow and serve the world better.
Medium.com’s Publications Need Pay Too
Within 1–2 days of my publishing my first articles on Medium.com, I was invited by quite a few publication editors to submit my articles to their publications.
I am deeply honored and flattered to be invited by these seasoned bloggers to publish my articles in their “digital magazines”.
Then I noticed publication editors putting my free articles behind Medium.com paywall. I figured these editors are making a living here.
I’ve come to realize that these editors are making a living on Medium.com. They curate my articles because they’re not RLOF™ but are instead lovingly researched educational pieces. (What bloggers would call evergreen content.)
I don’t need the money on Medium.com, but that doesn’t mean these professional editors don’t need to be paid for their well-trained skills. I’m hopeless at marketing my writing, I just wanna write.
No clickbaits, no predatory hooks
As I aim to integrate properly with business and industry (and let Medium.com get paid via my articles), I’m still unable to subscribe to Medium.com.
Looking at my feeds on Medium.com, I’m bombarded with “curated(?)” articles that file neatly into only 2 themes: how to write better, and how to earn money by writing. That’s not a news feed I want to pay for!
(I follow only one topic on Medium.com: software engineering.)
Still, I empathize with Medium.com. Not everyone actually strives to learn a skill to serve the world (many of us do, and we’re paid by day jobs).
It’s easy to understand how people would love to simply “learn how to earn money”. Medium.com needs a following to earn, and predatory hooks could be demanded at board meetings.
I’ll continue to write my educational articles, possibly never curated by Medium.com (?), simply because writing is part 3 of my 3-step learning process:
- Read (observe)
- Learn (process)
- Write (retain knowledge and skills)
As I write, I get paid more in my day job because I learn more skills to serve the world. I would advise everyone to do the same, to learn and to serve. But I also understand how business and advertising works, and I will not mess with normal distribution (of demographics).
I applaud Medium.com’s business savvy, even as I implore you to learn with your time. Consume what you feel for and get Medium.com paid. Train and produce value for this world, if you feel so inclined. You will always be loved and cared for (in my ideal world I’m building anyway!).
(TODO: Link to my articles on unconditional love, true love, true service.)
Therefore, I’ll be putting all of my educational articles behind Medium.com’s paywall, while simultaneously publishing Friend Links on my Twitter account.
My Medium.com profile page links to all educational articles I write, and every link is tagged with a ‘FL’ that links to a Friend Link published on my Twitter account.
Given time, I may put all of my articles, opinion pieces included, behind Medium.com’s paywall. If I can find time to put up Friend Links for them all, that is.
