I saw the writing on the wall a long time ago, when they changed the pay metrics and started this boost nonsense. Pay should always be based on reading time, not engagement like claps, highlights, and comments that can be faked. I'm not even a paying member now, and I can do all 3 of those things.

I went from a top writer in 4 different categories to crickets. Almost everything I wrote was curated, but I've only been boosted once. I feel like I've been blacklisted.

In a last attempt to salvage things here, I decided to go through my followers and remove anyone who wasn't authentic in an attempt to improve engagement.

I sat down a few weeks ago and started to comb through them. Guess what I found? Out of 6.5k followers, I removed over 3K. I found spam, porn, bots, inactive accounts, and AI. Out of the ones left, I doubt even 1K are viable—not even the paying members. At that point, I decided that I'm DONE.

There are few authentic accounts left. Out of the ones that are, we are penalized for engaging with one another, the very way we supposedly make money. And now, the pay has fallen through the floor. What is the point of staying to shout into the wind? And why would anyone pay for the "privilege" of writing? The writing is on the wall. Medium is dying.

I have removed my over 400 stories, and am now exclusively on Substack.