DAZED AND CONFUSED
I Thought I Already Was a “Friend of Medium”
I mean, what have I been doing here since 2018?
Oh, my aching head. I suppose we should have expected this latest bit of absurdity from this once-excellent platform. It’s a new initiative, boys and girls called “Friend of Medium.” Or “Become a Friend of Medium,” aka “Help Us, Please!”
Whatever the hell it’s called, it’s poop. And that last bit would be more accurate as, once again, it’s all about helping them. Medium wants us to think that FOM is about — once again —elevating and rewarding quality work, but we know that’s a crock, don’t we? Just look at the crap that’s rising to the top of the bowl. Much of it is from inexperienced writers from certain regions outside of the U.S. who are happy to make pennies on the dollar for their hard work because those pennies go a lot farther than they do here.
Hey, more power to them. I would do the same.
I learned about FOM from my writer friend and fellow MPP member who alerted me to a story written by an apparent tween (the leading demographic here). After skimming the fluff piece, my takeaway is that it’s Medium’s latest and flashiest attempt to avoid paying writers what we’re worth.