The Medium Mass Exodus
Should I stay or should I go? And does it really matter?
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Like usual, I got up this morning, plopped down in my big chair, took my meds, skimmed my email, and tapped on the Medium app on my phone — time to read.
Where did all of the people I used to read go? I don’t know. Will they be back? Not sure.
But there are tons of new people. Of course, these new writers are still wearing rose-colored glasses. They are proud to have acquired 200 followers in six months, happy to have made a total of $4 during their first three months in the Medium Partner Program, and sharing shout-outs of gratitude to all who read their stories (gotta love how they tag the names of their 312 followers at the end of their story).
Anyway, I’m glad they’re having such a good time on Medium; someone who isn’t bitter against the platform needs to keep writing. Lordy knows that the old-schoolers like me are questioning why we are still here.
We weathered writer souls talk about how nobody is reading our stories because our stories don’t get distributed to more than 17 readers. We write about how we would ditch Medium, but we don’t want to leave behind what is left of our rapidly-shrinking community.
I saw a story about how writers have lost jobs due to publishing on Medium, how writers have suffered ruined relationships as a result of Medium, and how numerous writers have lost their sense of self, their confidence, their out-going nature, and their ambition because Medium has sucked them in. In short, many writers have some nasty shit happen to them because they wrote on Medium.
So, if you don’t like it — leave. Right?
Well, it’s not such an easy answer for everyone. If you have been writing on Medium for years and invested your time and energy into the platform, it’s not easy for everyone to pick up and go.
But, it seems to you like everyone is leaving Medium, yet you are still here and you are miserable. What do you do? Should you leave? And does it matter?
I am still here. I take it one day at a time. But I’m cautious.
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