Amid a payment fiasco rattling the digital writing world, Medium blames mythical spammers for dodging fixing a six-year-old bug.
This time, they’ve pointed fingers at imaginary spammers pumping out 15 stories daily. But here’s my question: who on earth is writing and posting 15 stories a day on spammy Medium when most writers barely earn a couple of cents per story in this “terrible climate”?
As a retired scientist and volunteer editor, I rarely let platform challenges bother me deeply. But lately, the ongoing issues on Medium have felt like trying to bail water out of a sinking ship with a teaspoon. The frustration is overwhelming. The platform seems determined to steer straight into an iceberg.
Let me set the stage.
For the last several days, seasoned editors like Britni Pepper have been saying their farewells to Medium, disheartened by the ongoing payment adjustments. Since Dr Mehmet Yildiz said farewell to Medium until it gets better, I haven’t seen a single writer happy.
As a publication owner and helpdesk coordinator for ILLUMINATION, I’ve seen firsthand how challenging things have become.
While I’ve stepped back from colossal Illumination to focus on my own publication, Health and Science, and smaller offshoots like Readers’ Hope Technology Hits, Synergy, Curated Newsletters, Gaming, Videos/Podcasts, or Magnetic Newsletter Pro pubs, my inboxes remain flooded with messages from overwhelmed new editors.
Some of these new volunteers, much younger and more productive than me, are reporting they’ve hit a mysterious daily quota. They’re eager to clear the backlog of pending stories but are met with a brick wall: “Sorry, you’ve reached your publishing limit today try again in 24 hours.”
So, they’re locked out of publishing for 24 hours while the backlog balloons out of control, and frustrated writers start pointing fingers — branding hardworking editors as lazy scapegoats. The audacity doesn’t stop there: one writer even had the nerve to publicly call out 65-year-old volunteer editor Lawson Wallace, labeling him ‘lazy’ in front of the entire community. Imagine dedicating your time and energy only to be humiliated like that!
This so-called quota issue is a bug we’ve faced before, and Medium assured us months ago it was resolved. Yet when I asked Dr. Yildiz — ILLUMINATION’s chief editor and a strong advocate for transparency — to follow up, the response from Medium support team today was perplexing. Apparently, editors face restrictions because writers are supposedly publishing 15 stories a day.
I couldn’t believe my ears. Who are these mythical beings churning out 15 stories daily in an ecosystem that barely rewards quality, let alone quantity? If such writers exist, they’re likely contributing to the spam problem. Medium should deal with those cases directly instead of penalizing authentic writers and editors who work tirelessly to maintain quality.
And it gets worse.
Non-paying members, who are allowed to publish up to three stories daily, also contribute to this issue. When editors unknowingly publish stories from these accounts, they supposedly hit a “hidden” quota.
Medium’s logic here is baffling: why allow non-members to post three stories a day but limit them to reading only one or two? It’s like building a bridge halfway across a river and wondering why no one makes it to the other side.
Let me clarify — I’m not against non-paying members.
Many are from economically challenged countries where a $5 monthly fee is significant. Publications like ours go out of their way to support them. For example, out of 35,000 writers in ILLUMINATION, around 9,000 are non-members. We publish and promote their stories because we believe in inclusivity.
But there’s another side to this.
Some non-paying members are individuals who can afford the membership but choose not to for personal reasons.
For example, I recall a Harvard professor who asked for an exception last year to join ILLUMINATION-Curated (our former boost-nominating publication for paying members) because he didn’t want to pay Medium’s membership fee. Ironically, Medium boosted his stories, but he didn’t contribute to the payment pool, and everyone read his stories for free. So Medium won by not paying the writer and offering our curated stories to non-paying members. I don’t care about this as its idiosyncrasy.
But I do care about the recent pay cut in an order of magnitude as I discussed in my previous post which many readers left supportive comment.
Like many innocent writers and editors, I invite medium address the elephant in the room: the recent pay adjustments. Medium has cited spammers and scammers as the justification for reducing payouts across the board. But this blanket approach feels like using a sledgehammer to swat a fly — it hurts genuine writers more than anyone else.
My writers wrote heartfelt stories about this situation. But yesterday, I saw a story from an established writer as if speaking from an ivory tower in a patronizing way, defending Medium’s actions.
I saved the problematic story last night and I was ready to respond with a detailed, data-backed rebuttal this morning, but to my surprise, the story was deleted before I could. While I respect that they reconsidered their stance, it highlights the growing uncertainty among writers.
Medium, here’s my plea: stop manufacturing excuses and twisting the truth. The platform is home to brilliant minds, from Brittany and Zulie’s outreach efforts to attract academics to scientists and researchers who rely on honesty and transparency.
But academics won’t tolerate these antics. They’re truth-seekers by nature, and twisting facts will drive them away faster than any payment cut ever could.
If Medium truly values its community, it’s time to address these issues head-on. Enough with the smoke and mirrors — writers, editors, and readers deserve better. Let’s patch the holes, steer the ship back on course, and rebuild the trust that made this platform thrive in the first place.
Instead of fighting against spammers, Medium flagged many authentic writers’ profiles and like mine so their stories get no views. Jessica and Dr James mentioned it yesterday bravely on the farewell story of Dr Yildiz, but no one saw them, of course.
That’s all for today, folks! I can’t write 15 stories like spammers. See you tomorrow on this channel and take good care. Don’t forget having rest and fun with your loved ones.
If you are a new writer, please check out our updated submission guidelines before sending your first draft so that our editors can publish them quickly. Here are the links to the guidelines:
ILLUMINATION, Curated Newsletters, SYNERGY (Newsletter Booster), Technology Hits, ILLUMINATION Book Chapters, Readers Hope, and Magnetic Newsletter Pro.
I am a retired healthcare scientist in his mid-70s, and I have several grandkids who keep me going and inspire me to write on this platform. I am also the chief editor of the Health and Science publication on Medium.com. As a giveback activity, I volunteered as an editor for Illumination publications, supporting many new writers. I will be happy to read, publish, and promote your stories. You may connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Quora, where I share stories I read. You may subscribe to my account to get my stories in your inbox when I post. You can also find my distilled content on Substack: Health Science Research By Dr Mike Broadly.
If you are interested in being a writer for my Health and Science publication on Medium, you can send your Medium ID via our writer registration portal here.
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