I find my acumulated - carry-forward earnings shringk month by month-- If this keeps up- it will be ME that owes Medium money- I barely make $2/month- So they reduced my cay forward earnes by abut $2 as of May 2025- At this rate- I will start to owe THEM money way before the end of 2025. Is Medium now a sort of money collector- collecting funds from us writers- for writing- THAT is bizarre- We write- and THEN WE OWE MEDIUM noney? How long can this business model last beore it implodes?????
Wow, this is why I no longer write here. I know you asked me a week or so ago about this,Dr. But this is why. The way they treat their writers and others who provide quality content for them is despicable. You know it's funny, the other day I thought about possibly writing some stuff there to direct traffic, I guess you could say, to my Substack. I think people do that, but I just don't have the time, and frankly, I don't feel it is worth it. So sad this happened to you, my good friend. You are a very talented, smart writer. I just enjoy your thoughtful and research-supported posts. They are fantastic. :)
"And so we ask: is this how a platform shows it values creators? By making them clean up its own legacy — quietly, manually, and without tools or support?" This is just one more example of why so many creators have lost all respect for Medium. Interesting how this same exact statement applies to the stand they took on "meta" content. They most certainly benefited from it for years, and still do. And yet, not only have they stopped compensating for it, but they want us writers to manually remove the content from behind the paywall. If it wasn't so scandalous, it would be funny.
Thank you for sharing your story, Dr. Yildiz. I remember when Medium stopped its referral program. I attempted to remove all links from my stories but gave up because I would have had to go through over 500 stories to do so. I ended up leaving the links to many of my stories. But what I found interesting was Medium’s response to you.
“Call it an expensive bug in your favor.”
I know it's not the fault of Medium’s current leadership, but their handling of the entire situation was comical. It reminded me of the 1999 movie Office Space. The company found a glitch in the accounting and discovered that the character Milton in the movie was not supposed to be on the payroll. The company in the movie didn't inform the employee Milton about his termination. Instead, they fixed the “glitch” in the accounting department.
I left Medium almost one year ago, but I know many who stayed. The writers who helped Medium during its early years and writers like you who helped build its platform deserve better.
I was excited to subscribe when I saw you and your publication, Illumination, on Substack. I look forward to many more of your stories. By the way, I purchased your book, A Powerful Toolkit For Substack Newsletter Mastery. Your book has helped me craft my recent newsletters and build my writing business. Thank you for providing me with a blueprint to follow.
Thank you for your inspiring and valuable feedback, Don. Your observations are spot on. I am glad you are now part of our community. I will do my best to support your growth on Substack. Your content is gold.
Dr. Yildiz, I have followed your work for years- first on Medium, now on Substack. I come and go on these platforms, sometimes doing a days-long reading binge, sometimes absent for months. But no matter what, I have always known that I can come to your writing for value, for consistency, for genuine caring about your audience and a deep wish to help. You have been a beacon of ethical conduct in an internet world that doesn’t often display it. Please accept my sincere appreciation for everything you do. You’re one of the good ones.
Dr Yildiz this story touched my heart deeply as I am into affiliate marketing for a while. My lost from Medium affiliate earnings was minimal but I promoted another company dearly. When I started earning they changed the rules after a year and asked me to pay double of previous entry fee for the second year. When I disagree not to pay they did not not pay me my previous earnings and closed my account. It was like a punch in the gut. I stopped promoting that platform but I still feel regret for my my efforts like you adding them in my blog posts and even creating YouTube videos. Thank you for writing this educational story so beautifully.
I had no clue of affiliate marketing on Medium as I was not there on those days. But you gave us a good picture in your insightful story while teaching us the key principles of affiliate marketing. I learned a lot of business leadership lessons from this excellent story. Thank you for illuminating us Dr Yildiz.
Very good case study, Dr Yildiz. I liked your independent and well-balanced analysis of the issue with valuable lessons for creators. I don't know much about affiliate marketing but my adult kids do it as side hustles.
I don't think medium care about their writers now or ever.
I find my acumulated - carry-forward earnings shringk month by month-- If this keeps up- it will be ME that owes Medium money- I barely make $2/month- So they reduced my cay forward earnes by abut $2 as of May 2025- At this rate- I will start to owe THEM money way before the end of 2025. Is Medium now a sort of money collector- collecting funds from us writers- for writing- THAT is bizarre- We write- and THEN WE OWE MEDIUM noney? How long can this business model last beore it implodes?????
I am so sorry to read about your situation. Thank you for sharing your valuable thoughts Patrick.
Wow, this is why I no longer write here. I know you asked me a week or so ago about this,Dr. But this is why. The way they treat their writers and others who provide quality content for them is despicable. You know it's funny, the other day I thought about possibly writing some stuff there to direct traffic, I guess you could say, to my Substack. I think people do that, but I just don't have the time, and frankly, I don't feel it is worth it. So sad this happened to you, my good friend. You are a very talented, smart writer. I just enjoy your thoughtful and research-supported posts. They are fantastic. :)
I understand your concerns,, Bill. Thank you for sharing your valuable thoughts and feelings. Great to collaborate with you.
Thank you so much Dr. Yildiz. It is always a pleasure collaborating with you. Blessings friend. :):)
"And so we ask: is this how a platform shows it values creators? By making them clean up its own legacy — quietly, manually, and without tools or support?" This is just one more example of why so many creators have lost all respect for Medium. Interesting how this same exact statement applies to the stand they took on "meta" content. They most certainly benefited from it for years, and still do. And yet, not only have they stopped compensating for it, but they want us writers to manually remove the content from behind the paywall. If it wasn't so scandalous, it would be funny.
Thank you for your valuable feedback, Justiss. You are spot on.
Thank you for sharing your story, Dr. Yildiz. I remember when Medium stopped its referral program. I attempted to remove all links from my stories but gave up because I would have had to go through over 500 stories to do so. I ended up leaving the links to many of my stories. But what I found interesting was Medium’s response to you.
“Call it an expensive bug in your favor.”
I know it's not the fault of Medium’s current leadership, but their handling of the entire situation was comical. It reminded me of the 1999 movie Office Space. The company found a glitch in the accounting and discovered that the character Milton in the movie was not supposed to be on the payroll. The company in the movie didn't inform the employee Milton about his termination. Instead, they fixed the “glitch” in the accounting department.
I left Medium almost one year ago, but I know many who stayed. The writers who helped Medium during its early years and writers like you who helped build its platform deserve better.
I was excited to subscribe when I saw you and your publication, Illumination, on Substack. I look forward to many more of your stories. By the way, I purchased your book, A Powerful Toolkit For Substack Newsletter Mastery. Your book has helped me craft my recent newsletters and build my writing business. Thank you for providing me with a blueprint to follow.
Thank you for your inspiring and valuable feedback, Don. Your observations are spot on. I am glad you are now part of our community. I will do my best to support your growth on Substack. Your content is gold.
Can we contribute to your pub on Substack?
Hi Mary, yes, we now have a public publication on Substack called ILLUMINATION Writing Academy. We have just started it and published one curated piece. Here is the submission guidelines: https://open.substack.com/pub/illuminationwritingacademy/p/submission-guidelines-for-illumination?r=302ocf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Dr. Yildiz, I have followed your work for years- first on Medium, now on Substack. I come and go on these platforms, sometimes doing a days-long reading binge, sometimes absent for months. But no matter what, I have always known that I can come to your writing for value, for consistency, for genuine caring about your audience and a deep wish to help. You have been a beacon of ethical conduct in an internet world that doesn’t often display it. Please accept my sincere appreciation for everything you do. You’re one of the good ones.
Hi Carrie, thank you so much for your inspiring and heart-warming feedback. It meant a lot to me. I send my appreciation for your kindness too.
I got the email from them too and was very disappointed with them.
Thanks for your feedback, Zuri. We all got disappointed.
Dr Yildiz this story touched my heart deeply as I am into affiliate marketing for a while. My lost from Medium affiliate earnings was minimal but I promoted another company dearly. When I started earning they changed the rules after a year and asked me to pay double of previous entry fee for the second year. When I disagree not to pay they did not not pay me my previous earnings and closed my account. It was like a punch in the gut. I stopped promoting that platform but I still feel regret for my my efforts like you adding them in my blog posts and even creating YouTube videos. Thank you for writing this educational story so beautifully.
Thank you for your support and feedback, Aiden 🌟
I had no clue of affiliate marketing on Medium as I was not there on those days. But you gave us a good picture in your insightful story while teaching us the key principles of affiliate marketing. I learned a lot of business leadership lessons from this excellent story. Thank you for illuminating us Dr Yildiz.
I appreciate your feedback and support, Dr Jones.
Very good case study, Dr Yildiz. I liked your independent and well-balanced analysis of the issue with valuable lessons for creators. I don't know much about affiliate marketing but my adult kids do it as side hustles.
Thank you for your valuable feedback, Dr Broadly.