From Medium to Middling

… Two or Three Steps Back

As usual, I get to the party too late.

Not long after I penned my ode to the beauty and simplicity, and read-generator, which was Medium — it all fell away.

While still ‘simple’, as distraction-free blogging platforms go, Medium has lost not only its beauty (with newly limited photo layout options, and the photo header done away with) … but also its focus, as a platform dedicated to reading, and writing.

Medium 2.0 seems to be nothing more than another tired social network: aggressively encouraging “likes” and imposing this Prom King/Queen popularity scheme in order to be read … and now, encouraging peanut gallerists to chime in and “respond” to words which don’t need or, especially, want, response.

Why can’t writers simply write? Can words and thoughts not find their own, and resonate, disseminate amongst like-minded … without being force-fed — sorry, “shared”? Or, alternately, by opting out of the “social”, getting held back: assigned low visibility, and consequently, remaining as unread as the day they’re posted?

What used to be organic on Medium, via a generous platform of exposure — whereby writers could submit their work to synergistic Collections, for the attention, (hopefully) enjoyment, approval and non-interactive engagement of like-minded readers: a built-in audience! — has become little more than DiggRedditandnowFacebook: a happy little place for the disengaged to weigh in and feel like they belong to something.

If I sound like a dick, it’s because I am. I’m a writer.

And Medium used to be a writing platform … or maybe I just misunderstood, and my arcane little (head)trips, homilies, rants and an homage or two, never really belong(ed), still, anywhere.