I quit the Medium Partner Program
I made a few bucks, but at what cost?
The Medium Partner Program is a great way to make writers feel their efforts in publishing good content are worth it. I love how Medium is an ad-free platform and how they value all of us who contribute with articles and stories here.
I’ve been writing for five months now and I can say I was as eager as the next person to get my 100 followers and join the MPP.
Why did I quit, then?
Earning money was not the primary reason I started writing
And I actually learned about the MPP after I had a few stories posted. I wrote my first article because I felt like I had something nice to say (and I was convinced nobody but my mom would read it) and I actually got a nice response from it.
It made me realize that things I write here actually reach people, and that it can make a difference in their day, just like other people’s stories have impacted me as well. It has made me become closer to amazing people and have opportunities I never thought I would simply because I got the courage to put some of my thoughts right here on Medium.
After my first article, I felt encouraged to write again and had amazing surprises. In these five months, I’ve had stories distributed, joined publications, had an article go viral, and even became a top writer.
Design is all about community
And it’s one of the things I love the most about being a designer. Of course, you may not write about design, so what I say here may not apply to you, but sharing and helping are two important pillars in the design community that I value a lot, so it was obvious to me I should do my best to help keep them alive.
So knowing some people may not be able to read one of my stories because they reached the monthly 3-story limit non-members get made me feel a little guilty. I don’t want to leave anybody out, and even making a few dollars don’t make it worth it.
I don’t want my earnings to shape what I write about
And as insane as it might sound, monetizing your stories may end up influencing you to focus more on one or another topic. After joining the MPP, I couldn’t stop wondering if I would ever write another viral story, and couldn’t let go of feeling disappointed when it didn’t get as many readers as I thought it would.
I want my writing to feel good and to make sense to me. I love when friends read them and when strangers comment on them. And I love having it as a hobby, something I look forward to at the end of the day, instead of a source of revenue.
And I don’t know if I will feel like this forever, who knows, maybe I’ll change my mind later on. But right now I feel light and proud of having this small space in the vastness of the internet that is all mine, to use it as I feel like and maybe bring some joy and information to someone sitting on the other side of the world.
And I am not here to judge anyone who is enrolled in the MPP
I just felt there were too many articles talking about joining and too little talking about leaving, so I wanted to share my side of the story.
At the end of the day, your use of Medium has to make you happy, not anybody else, and that is the beauty of the internet. There’s always room for what makes sense to you.
