Thanks for being brave, P. G.
Despite being the best out there right now, the Medium system is basically a little fucked up. For writers such as myself who write for a living views of my articles mean absolutely nothing. Reads mean absolutely nothing. Responses mean absolutely nothing. The only things that pay are highlighting and claps.
I happen to be a clapping fool. I clap like crazy. But the more I clap, the less my claps are worth to the author. If I clap 50 times for an article or story I really liked it’s not worth more than a few pennies to the author. Last month I made enough moola to pay for my monthly internet access fee with $1.63 left over (which went towards the electric bill). I dream of some day making enough to not only pay for my monthly internet access fee but also my Medium dues, the electric bill and have enough left over for a bottle of tequila. It has yet to happen.
Back before the Partner Program began we were allowed to have tip jars at the end of our articles where readers could donate some money when they were really moved. That’s not allowed anymore. It’s sad because I made a lot more cashola with that system than with the Partner Program. Signing up for the Partner Program was like taking a 60% cut in pay.
What I think Medium needs to do is to continue with the clap program but add a new icon next to the clap button — a donate button. Writers can add their PayPal account or Stripe account or Square account or any of the many donation platforms out there giving readers an option of rewarding authors with more than just a few pennies. (Why not use Stripe since all of us writers are already hooked up?) I know for a fact that there are readers out there who can afford to show their appreciation and support for their favorite authors but the current system simply does not allow for that. All readers can do now is clap for pennies. Maybe that’s why a lot of people don’t clap because pennies just aren’t worth the effort.
As for curating, that is just trading pennies for nickels. It still leaves truly appreciative readers with no way to enhance their show of support. It is all up to the curators leaving the readers and writers out of the loop.
As with ‘real life,’ on Medium all the money flows from the bottom to the top. As with ‘real life,’ we need a restructuring of economics on Medium. It needs to be more democratic and readers need to be able to be in charge of how they spend their wealth — both their money and eyeballs. But Medium, like all corporations, are afraid of giving up any control over how their users spend or earn money.
Like I said, it’s a little fucked up. But I try not to complain. I’m just happy I can make enough money to pay my monthly internet access fee so that I can keep writing in order to keep paying my monthly internet access fee. Thank God for EBT! (Unfortunately you can’t buy tequila with an EBT card.)
