I’m one of those 60% or so who makes something but I’m a long way from the elite $100/month club, let alone the $1000+ers.
I originally became a subscriber because it occurred to me that I was interacting with Medium more than with NPR, and I was donating to NPR so WTF?
I scroll down my home page in wonderment. I would never have done all this writing but for Medium. Who knows, maybe I would not have written anything at all.
I don’t need thousands of views/reads. The fact that somebody is reading it is enough. By clapping and responding I’ve grown a little network. I love getting responses most of all, especially thoughtful and generous ones like this one, which came from someone I didn’t know and was a response to something I’d written months ago.
It’s this kind of serendipity that keeps me going.
I’m sure I’m not alone. In fact I’d wager that the bulk of the subscribership is people like me. So if Medium wants to build subscribership they need to keep it appealing to people like me and reach out to more. I read the big shots but if they all left and we peashooters were still around I’d stay. If it was the other way around I might well leave. The big shots don’t read my stuff or respond to it. It’s the interaction that keeps me here. Shouting into a cave gets boring fast.
