I asked Medium customer service (again) about why my earnings dropped so much
I was told that it’s nothing on them, but my writing is really bad
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I faced connection issues while editing. For a while I could not restore a section that was accidentally deleted. Oops. Sorry about that. I mention it because it made the most interesting mess.
I have been writing my ass off since February, and I quickly made it into the $100 per month club — for exactly one month. It seems that quickly advancing that way is not the mark of a poor writer. Yet, a Medium Customer Service Representative insists that my work is really bad — and contextually to my question, this means that all of a sudden it became really bad in mid-June 2024. My question was for them to help me discover what caused my earnings to drop sharply from that point on.
The rep mentioned a few things; allow me to explain. In mid-June, so much changed on the platform that many writers were referring to “the algorithm changes.” Yet when I used that term at one point — “the mid-June algorithm changes,” the CS rep said that there were none. Really?
Then, there was some nonsense about my work having a high AI rating lately. My authentic work. I was told that the AI detection system used here sees structured articles as being similar to those produced by AI. They elaborated and said that using the word ‘Introduction’ is now problematic, as is using titular and hierarchical structure of any kind. I’ve been writing for a very long time and have never heard of such nonsense. Articles have always been written with hierarchical structure.
Get that? I became a really bad writer on June 15th, which is why my earnings dropped 80%. Also, we are not to write authentically anymore but rather are to avoid writing like AI. Isn’t this getting too technical? How can we keep dodging the raindrops if they keep adding silly new catch points?
Like an idiot, I’ve paid into FOM since February. Since I first asked about the huge drop in earnings I’ve experienced, I’ve either been ignored or given the brushoff. Medium takes no responsibility, and upon me asking more questions and declining nonsensical responses, the CS rep or reps (I’m not sure, as the names disappeared after a while) became more and more rude.
In the end, they were taking snippets of my work and not actually reading the articles to gain context, and based on them, they were saying that necessary chunks of insight were missing from said articles in cases — meaning that because so much was missing, my articles are hard to understand. From their shortsighted analyses, they deduced that the sheer stupidity of my work is what lost me about 80% of my earnings.
They did not use the word stupidity — they didn’t have to. The snippets they showed me that were taken out of context said it for them.
As an example of what they claimed to be missing: In one article I mentioned “the age of spirit.” They said, “You introduced a concept and you did not elaborate on what it was.” That may be true. However, I take that approach for a reason that is important to me. I do not want to attract readers that need spoonfeeding; I want those on my level. I assume my readers are on my level or that they have the intellect to look up terms they are unfamiliar with. As well, the comment was in an article written weeks after mid-June, making their observation irrelevant.
Another example they used was my article about buying a guitar. The article is very concise and was designed to be that way. The article ideally would have links to a video or two, but as I don’t have YT videos live and cannot link to monetized videos by others, no links are added. They told me that because one article I have written since mid-June had no links in it, that must be part of what killed my earnings.
I have no use left for Medium. I am now trying to get back all of the FOM money I paid in; if I get it back, great, and if I don’t, whatevs. But no one is going to shirk on my buck. I worked hard for the earnings I got to ultimately have them taken away while paying into FOM.
I apologize to everyone. I had fully invested myself in making the WOTW publication sing. But that bastard CS I dealt with reached in and ripped my heart out.
There is no need for this. You watch — no one cares.
I hope the PayPal agent reviewing the case sees this, but I doubt that they will.
I hope you have better luck than I did with these menaces. Absolutely heartless.
If you think some of my recent work is hard to read, let me know. It wouldn’t make matters worse — it couldn’t. I want to know the truth of what you see. I know I am not the world’s best writer, nor should I be, as I am not paid near enough for that.
I apologize to my readers and community. I didn’t even have the heart left to check this for typos or fluidity. You know, when someone who’s supposed to have your back gives you a curb stomp and you have no teeth left, it’s about the worst that can happen.
When it’s your turn, I’ll support you in spirit. Don’t let them get away with anything.
