Why I Don’t Pay For Medium Membership
Yes, I read a lot, but that’s not a reason to pay for.
Every time I write a critic, I have to say firstly that I love Medium ❤.
Shall I be ashamed that I’m not a premium member?
Am I unfair because I don’t pay people for the content they create?
Shall I feel uncomfortable that I’m using the platform for free?
I don’t think so, I don’t pay for so many online services, and the reason is the same: I’m not convinced that I have to do. I’m OK with what I already have.
I have a free Spotify account, I don’t mind to listen to ads, and I don’t want to download music for offline use, I’m OK with what I already have.
I have a free Youtube account, I don’t mind to see ads, and I’m not interested by any other video options , I’m OK with what I have.
I have a premium Google Drive, because 15Gb isn’t enough for me. I really need the extra service, the price is good and the 24/7 service worth it.
I have a premium Runtastic, because I tested it, it worth the money, I hear more information, I can set up more things, and the price is one-time paid.
But what will I get if I subscribe to Medium for 5€/month?
Let’s start with the price, it is cheap, and I can afford more than that if I really think I need it, but here are the points that are not OK for me:
- Medium content is not constant, so why the price is? Why should I pay 5€ every single month? And who ensures the content will be there every day?
- Medium content is volatile, I pay to access posts, but their authors may just remove them any time, can I keep a copy? I don’t think this is possible.
- Medium platform is the same, I mean that there are no extra options for the website that makes the difference between free and paid accounts.
- Medium membership doesn’t include demo period, you pay then you can see how it looks like, let me tell you a secret, I downloaded paid Runtastic app .apk, and when I liked it, I went to Playstore and bought it.
- Medium change was brutal, for people like me who “read a lot”, it wasn’t easy to wake up with so many stared posts that we can’t read anymore, I think a progressive change could have taken more people to subscribe.
That said, I’m not saying that I’ll never subscribe. I may do it in the future.
