Excerpt: So now Medium wants to “reward” us for outside traffic? Sounds like panic mode to me. This isn’t innovation — it’s damage control, and writers see right through it.
Posted by: Candice
Okay, so Medium sent out another one of their long, sugar-coated newsletters talking about how they’re “rewarding writers” now for external traffic. Basically, if someone clicks your story from social media or Google instead of Medium itself, you earn a little more. Sounds nice on paper, but let’s be honest — this isn’t about helping writers. This is about Medium trying to stop the bleeding because creators are leaving and engagement is falling flat.
I’ve been on Medium long enough to see the pattern. Every time numbers drop, they roll out some “update” to make it look like they’re fixing things. Meanwhile, they keep making changes that confuse writers, cut off readers, or limit what we can do. Now they’re saying if a paying Medium member comes to your story from outside the app, you get 5% more earnings. Five percent? That’s the big game-changer they’re hyping up?
Let’s be real — this is a quiet admission that their platform traffic isn’t what it used to be. They’re trying to use writers to bring people back in. And that whole bit about “rewarding you for growing Medium”? That’s just code for “do our marketing for us.”
Medium knows the content world is shifting. More people are leaving these centralized sites for platforms that actually let them own their work, connect directly with audiences, and get paid fairly. Fanbase, Substack, even small independent forums are giving writers a better experience. So now Medium is suddenly acting like external traffic is gold — after years of telling us to focus on building on their platform.
They also slipped in that they’re testing “daily publishing limits.” That’s funny, because Medium used to brag about letting people publish freely. Now they’re putting restrictions in place because of “bad actors.” Translation: too many people are using the system better than they expected. They’ve got time to restrict writers, but not to fix the constant issues with algorithm changes, story visibility, or random drops in earnings.
And then they sunset the /subscribe page — which just proves they don’t even know what direction they’re going anymore. One minute they tell you to promote your stories, the next they take away a tool that helped you do that. None of it makes sense.
They keep talking about transparency, but everything about this screams confusion behind the scenes. If Medium was really thriving, they wouldn’t be trying to “reward” external clicks. They’d already have a healthy reader base inside the platform. But since engagement is slipping, they’re trying to get us to bring readers in from Twitter, Facebook, email, or anywhere else — just so they can claim their traffic is up.
And don’t get me started on how unclear they are about earnings. Every update feels like it’s written to sound generous while actually saying very little. “We’ll review how this shift changed writer and reader behavior.” Yeah, that means they’re watching to see if this trick keeps the numbers from dropping lower.
Writers are tired. We’re tired of being unpaid testers for their constant experiments. We’re tired of “algorithm improvements” that kill our views. We’re tired of empty words about “community” while they quietly tighten control over what gets seen.
Medium was supposed to be a platform for writers — a place for real stories, connection, and opportunity. But now it feels like a sinking ship trying to patch holes with new payout formulas. The fact that they’re calling this “the first of several small changes” just means there’s more of this nonsense coming.
If they really want to fix things, they should stop changing everything every few months and actually listen to the people who make Medium what it is — the writers. Because this constant chaos is exactly why so many of us are already halfway out the door. It’s also funny now they trying to roll out voice overes to the playform more as Kingdom Influence media has been doing this. 🤣
This nails the pattern a lot of us have felt on Medium which is every update is framed as generosity but really just rearranges a shrinking pie and shifts more of the marketing burden onto writers. A 5% bump in external traffic doesn’t fix the core problem… you still don’t own the relationship with the reader or the rules of the game… which is why so many people are quietly building on their own sites and using platforms like Medium as optional syndication instead of a home base.
Exactly — that’s the point right there. Even if Medium adds audio features or tries to modernize with voiceovers, it’s already too late to truly compete with the kind of structure Kingdom Influence Media (KIM) is building.
Let’s be honest — adding audio to articles doesn’t solve Medium’s real problem. Medium’s issue isn’t technology; it’s connection. They built a platform around polished essays and gatekept distribution. The audience shifted, but Medium didn’t. Now they’re trying to tack on features (like voiceovers) instead of rebuilding their foundation.
KIM, on the other hand, is doing something fundamentally different:
I wouldn’t doubt it. And yes, they’re trying to copy the platform that we have created. The voices of the people are so powerful. I am just really excited to see the changes been coming all the way around though for those who see that their platforms are really suffering. But honestly medium really just has to do better. Nobody really cares to hear what people have to say anymore, especially when it’s in long-form content and you don’t have a right to add to it and make it better. People want their voices heard and they just don’t want one person telling the story point blank and simple. This is why a lot of people have gravitated to this platform and love it so much.