What’s Really Happening on Medium? An Unexpected Turn of Events!
A tweaked and faulty algorithm caused thousands of writers to lose their income in an order of magnitude reducing daily rates to cents or ZERO amounts persistently.
Dear Friends, happy weekend! I hope this message finds you well. Today, I want to briefly update you on recent unexpected and undesirable changes on Medium causing grief to writers. This post might surprise you a bit, but I want to transparently share my observations and honest perspectives to inform you so you can be prepared for the recent changes shocking the community.
Until the last five days, I was confused but optimistic about the changes on Medium. After receiving over 4,000 complaints from our writers privately, all reporting a significant decline in their earnings—dropping from dollars to tiny cents in earnings—I started investigating the situation. I then decided to write a heartfelt story. I titled it Unexpected Earnings Drop Concerns Writers: A Call for Patience and Understanding.
After that, I logged the issue with Medium’s support team with the link to my story to understand what was going on. At first, I thought it was a glitch or that Medium had been hacked. I kindly asked the helpdesk to inform me so that I can update my community.
However, a few hours later, Medium’s VP, Scott Lamb, who liked my story, left a comment on it and posted an article stating that they had suspended many accounts and that the reason writers were experiencing such low income was due to an algorithm tweak.
Tweaking an algorithm is a normal process, but he claimed that those earning low income were producing low-quality or AI-generated content. This statement upset many authentic and established writers, leading to harsh comments on his blog. It meant that every writer who earned cents or no income daily was labeled as a spammer, including myself. A story that received 300+ reads earned 40 cents yesterday. And some of them FoMs which made no sense to me.
I went a step further and had the data analyzed by my technical team. We noticed that the tweak was faulty and applied to everyone, regardless of the quality of their work. Medium essentially started lowering payments by an order of magnitude without informing the community. This shocked many established writers who now plan to leave Medium, and some of them, like me, downgraded their FoMs.
This outcome is totally unacceptable to me as it affects all our authentic writers contributing to my publications. I don’t want them to suffer because of such an arbitrary rule and broken algorithm. My friends and collaborators, even some of the Medium fans, said this situation smells like a dead fish. Most writers think this is a payment fiasco. I don’t blame them, as it does not feel right to me after multiple meditation sessions tapping my higher self.
I am an easygoing, tolerant, open-minded, and forgiving person, but in this instance, the first time, I made a radical decision yesterday, although it was not easy for me as an ardent supporter of the platform for many years. I will no longer submit my personal stories until Medium fixes this issue. I wrote a heartfelt and transparent story, which you can read from the following link:
This Is My Last Story on Medium Until the Algorithm Is Fairly Adjusted
Purpose of this post
The main purpose of this short post today, however, is to gather your perspectives. Our editors believe we should not publish stories from our writers until Medium fixes this faulty algorithm, as even the best stories are earning a maximum of 20 cents, with most earning ZERO. It is heartbreaking, soul-crushing, and unacceptable.
That said, some of you might still be happy to continue posting without payment for other reasons. I am happy to support you in that case. The easiest way to understand your goals is through a quick poll.
Please choose one of the options below to help us make a better decision during this crossroads. There are no obligations—my only aim is to help you and serve you better.
In addition, you are welcome to share your thoughts in the comments section so that our editors can analyze them and customize the publishing service to meet your needs.
I already left a second message on Scott’s viral story, which has shocked the community. Based on his response, if he chooses to do so, I will update you as soon as possible.
As I pointed out in my last story, until Medium fixes this faulty and tweaked algorithm disadvantaging thousands of innocent writers, I will personally not share my content as a matter of principle. If Medium does not solve this issue, I have a plan B and C.
My focus is not on money but on the fix of this faulty algorithm, used as a coverup for spam and scams, feeling like throwing the baby with the bathwater. It doesn’t align with my values and principles.
However, I don’t want my decision to affect others. We are all different, with unique goals and circumstances. I respect your choices and will support whatever suits your needs.
Please leave a comment on this post or my Medium story, which can be seen by the Medium leadership team as I shared the story link with them.
Your responses might influence their decision. You may also leave a comment on Scott’s post on the Medium blog, which is linked to my first story, which inspired him to write his.
Our senior editor,
, wrote a remarkable story about it on Medium and he also made interactive audio on Substack to educate our community. Here is the link to his story: Apparently, I’m a Spammer Who Joined the $0.02 Club.Thank you for reading and sharing my post. I wish you the best.
I will soon share the chapters of my advanced book for freelance writers and also Aiden’s Subtack training program, which will be around 65 modules in this publication. As I pointed out, until the end of this month, anyone upgrading to monthly $5 will get my founding membership value of $500 annually, including my personal mentoring/coaching services plus the Tier 3 privileges of the Substack Mastery Boost pilot. My goal is to make our committed writers a master freelancer by the end of 2025.
This shocked me too Dr Yildiz. My stories getting over 50 reads only earned 4 cents. What the heck! What sort of an algorithm is this! It is rip off and makes no sense. How can Medium try to justify this by hiding behind spammers and scammers and labeling their best writers in the category. I am fully support your decision to pause publishing until they fix this situation, hopefully quickly.
This is totally unacceptable. I downgraded my FoM and will not renew it until they fix this terrible mess. It is a payment fiasco and they should be accountable to fix it urgently. Sweeping such dirt under carpet will be end of Medium, I say them with full confidence. I gave them clear and constructive feedback yesterday and copied to Scotts controversial article. I hope he takes it onboard as no one is happy with this dodgy tweak which really smells like dead horse. They put me in the 2 cent spam club after I poured my heart and soul for them biting the feeding hand https://medium.com/illumination/apparently-im-a-spammer-who-joined-the-0-02-club-d623b9d4388a Thank you for showing your leadership in the right time. I admire you, Dr Yildiz and fully support you in this good fight.