Yes, I am a Non-paying Medium Member. Deal With It!
When I joined Medium, I swore that the minute I made as much as 5 dollars from Medium, I would join the membership program.
Needless to say, it is hard to thrive in the Medium community without being a Medium member where you cannot read, or engage with the lovely work of other writers.
I was ecstatic when I discovered a couple of publications that I could join without proving my skills. However, I had to wait a month to earn my three-reads a month before I could respond to their comment and hence become a writer for them.
As a matter of fact, the three free reads that Medium gives are spent accidentally clicking on stuff, without considering or noticing that I am losing one-third of my reading privileges.
Other times, I would be compelled to read a few articles, only to discover that it was not worth the bare minimum number of stories that I get. Hence, resorting to unprincipled means for reading valuable stuff off Medium.
It is wrong and unethical on many levels, but when justice isn’t served you might need to tweak the rules to make it work for you.
Lastly, Why would a person feel motivated to spend money when they have lost the motivation to earn from it.
Should all the third-world writers call it quits?
It is bad enough that the sole payment for many websites is PayPal, which some countries, mine inclusive, are making no attempt to introduce to the freelancers in their country.
In other cases, some people should understand that 5 dollars can be worth two weeks of meals for some people and they can find a new life, a sense of freedom in front of their computer screen.
Gone are the days, when only the sophisticated kids who had educated parents and air-conditioned homes, could speak and write English.
The privilege of expressing yourself on the internet has become universal now.
As for Medium, there is not a better place for writers who have no idea what they are doing.
