The Medium $500 Bonus

What the bonus is, who got it, why were they selected, and is this any indication of a shifting strategy for Medium going forward

Source: Blogging Guide

EDIT: There has since been a second Medium bonus payment. To learn more read the new article:

Medium Bonus Tiers for Partner Program Earnings | Blogging Guide

As you are no doubt aware, Medium distributed $500 bonuses to 1000 writers. As an avalanche of articles were posted about the mysterious $500 bonus, I found myself (and other writers) asking four primary questions:

1. What is the $500 Bonus?
2. Who received the $500 bonus?
3. Why were these writer picked for Medium’s $500,000 payout?
4. Is this indicative of the future of Medium?

1. What is the $500 Medium Bonus?

For those writers that didn’t receive the email (myself included), Medium issues 1000 payments of $500 to writers, with the following explanation:

“Medium members are discerning readers, drawn to great writing — like…