A Farewell to Ames
Yesterday my family celebrated the Winter Solstice; nobody went to the hospital. That may sound like a strange association to make, but it was two years ago today — 22 December 2021 — that my wife drove me to a hospital psychiatric ward to address a breakdown the day before. I was glad not to repeat the experience.
When I returned home from the hospital, my wife asked me to consider my gender identity. The result — if you followed me at all in 2022 or 2023 — was a successful gender transition as well as a career change. I am now a writer, podcaster, public speaker, and transgender activist.
The past year was…tumultuous. I will publish a deeper retrospective next week, but a quick overview saw me found my own Publication on Medium, gain popularity, then become far more critical of Medium as a platform toward the end of the year. It is the last I want to discuss.
Although I began this year highly dependent on Medium to launch my writing career, I believe now is the appropriate time for me to leave. Next week’s retrospective will be the last article I publish on Medium. I have given this decision considerable thought, and I will explain my plans below, but first I would like to explain my reasoning.
My good experience got Boosted
When I began publishing on Medium in October 2022, it took a good topic and some luck to become popular. Distributing content to readers occurred algorithmically — I was served content similar to what I had read in the past. I read many transgender authors, and I was recommended more transgender authors. I found a community — or perhaps more accurately, the community was sent to me. I was free to like or dislike content as I chose, which tuned what I was sent in the future.
In February 2023, Medium began experimenting with The Boost — that is, content curated by humans. The Boost is intended to highlight the best of the best. At the time, I was skeptical. Nobody knows what I consider “the best of best” except me. Several writers shared my skepticism, and Medium went all in on The Boost in August 2023.
The program relies on Medium Publication owners nominating what they believe is the best content for a Boost. After being nominated, an article must be approved by Medium personnel who judge nominated articles by unpublished criteria.
My experience to date with human-curated content has not been favorable. The algorithm that served me content appears to have been pre-empted by The Boost team. Since August 2023, I am served content that barely interests me. I used to open an average of four links from each daily email. I now open an average of four links from a week of daily emails.
It takes a Nommer
Boost nominators — Nommers — have taken a good deal of blame for these results. Because Nommers are paid for each approved nomination, I predicted a black market would grow around them. Rumors have circulated of Nommers engaging in practices I wouldn’t choose to.
But what used to be an organic community that found each other now feels like a community forced by financial gain. If I am nominated for a Boost, is it truly because I wrote a stellar piece of work? Or is my article simply a good risk in the financial transaction that occurs as part of the contract between Nommer and Medium? I can never know, and my audience will never know, but the fact remains my work must first appear as a good risk before it will even be nominated.
Unfortunately both for me and my audience, I don’t write to suit an algorithm or a Boost rubric or a social agenda. I write because I must say what I have to say. What I wrote seems to have been relatable and sensical — my popularity before August 2023 was rising quickly. As a chemist-turned-software-engineer writing about philosophy, psychology, and gender theory, nobody was more surprised than I was. Maybe I explained feelings for which my audience never had words in the past.
The porpoise is laughing
My audience cannot find my work any longer. Several people — Followers of mine who did not sign up for email updates — have asked if I stopped publishing. My statistics indicate clearly my articles are not out in front of many people. Even the article given a Boost this month only reached the level of Views an average article would before August 2023.
Somebody suggested I have an obligation to do whatever it takes on Medium to get my content to my audience. I should engage with articles Nommers write, publish in Nommer Publications, force Nommer eyes to my work. I will have a greater chance of being Nommed, being Boosted, and reaching the audience slavering for my content.
But is that not what Medium promises as its value — to serve me content worth reading? I chose to publish on Medium because it would get my articles into the hands of those who wanted them. Failing that, why would I support the platform? For the sake of an audience who cannot find me?
The plan
I do not intend to publish on Medium after 31 December 2023. I will transfer ownership of the Publication I run — The Identity Current — to another writer next week. Further information will be available to writers on the Publication next week, but suffice it to say that no changes are intended other than transferring ownership.
My Medium subscription expires at the end of April 2024. Until then, I will read what interesting content comes to me, respond to comments on my articles, and engage as best I can. By end of April 2023, I will remove the paywall from every article I published on Medium.
Last August — as Medium rolled out The Boost — I rolled out my own web site: Gender Identity Today. My work will be there if you’d like to continue to read it. Any RSS reader will alert you when new content is published. If you’d like to support the web site and receive email updates directly, there are subscriptions available as little as $2 / month.
To every reader of my work: thank you for supporting me to this point. Your push has gotten me to a launching pad for 2024. I hope my announcement does not disappoint. I’m not stopping work — I’m only making sure I focus my attention where a professional writer can be successful. Medium has indicated they are not the platform.
