What Writing on Medium after a year feels like
The platform isn’t the same.
The last article I wrote was over almost 8 months on Medium. I had a mental goal to always keep in touch with the platform but miserably lost touch — as you and I see it.
So what went wrong?
No, this isn’t a review of how the platform has changed over time. It’s about how I along with the platform have changed.
The interface of the platform has no doubt had massive makeovers — its homepage getting saturated day by day with new sections and trying to grab the reader’s eye.
Let’s get to the platform later on. We’ve got time for that, haven’t we?
Why I stopped writing here…
Although I was getting annoyed with people trying to abuse the system with the follow-for-follow trend and articles on how to get 100 followers, it wasn’t just it.
Ever since May (my last article), I’ve had less and lesser time to think for myself. I just began drifting away from Medium.
If you’ve read my previous articles here, you’ll see I use Medium as a platform to reflect how far I’ve come.
As a blogger. As a person.
I realized I hadn’t done that in a long while until recently — giving myself time. I’ve always had time itsy bits of here and there. But no more.
So much has happened in the past year, that I found it difficult to get a hold of the pen (metaphorically, of course). Where would I begin with?
But here it is — this article. I apologize if you were looking for a message in this post, because there isn’t.
It’s only me trying to get back to speaking my mind with words.
It’s only a start to my stories. Again :)
Writing on my personal blog isn’t the same
My travel blog (FYI, I run a travel blog) has actually been doing sweet since the past year.
Yes, I haven’t touched Medium for half a year. Yet I’ve stayed consistent with my personal blog.
Why? For one, Medium doesn’t pay me — my blog does. Two, I don’t write about my personal life on my blog, it’s more of a money making business.
It takes a little more than effort to write on Medium. Introspection, peace of mind, and reflection.
Writing on my travel blog and here isn’t the same afterall. My pure intention of writing here is to keep both — my mind and words in touch with one another.
I don’t know if you could comprehend that straight away. I shall leave that part for you to catch on.
Followers, Eye Catching Titles, and ‘Member Only’ content
Enough about me! Let’s look at how far this platform, a haven for readers (and writers), has come.
It was only a matter of time when publications began focusing more on getting others’ attention rather than their own content.
I guess I do that too sometimes these days.
We are all in that hopeless pool with the rest trying to get that one title click from you, aren’t we?
But as Medium’s user base grows, one can sense more desparation among new writers to hit that partner program target.
The quality of articles getting featured. The effort to get people to pay for the platform’s subscription with its ‘Member Only’ addition.
Thankfully, I love how its monetization model remains intact with no annoying ads coming around. The interface still remains with the classic chessboard colors.
It puts a smile across my face everytime I come back here. I guess that’s why I’ll be writing here again.
It’s sweet to be back. Until next time :)
