Thank you for that, Lincoln. You put a lot of work into it and I appreciate it. It's good to know more about you, and I honestly didn't know I could use ManyStories beyond Medium. Now that I do, I will.

Medium has lost me, and it's their fault, not mine. I liked the platform for a long time and tried to work within it, but as much as I wrote and as good as it was, it was never good enough. I've only made $100 in one month in the two plus years I've been writing here. I brought in plenty of readers but if they didn't pay they didn't count. I won't write every day or even three times a week, so I'm screwed there, too. I've worked to help writers any chance I get and I appreciate a writing community--but I'm not into writing clubs. I don't clap unless I'm feeling it. I don't read entire stories just to help a writer out. And I detest their system of claps and reading time. It's kindergarten stuff. @MediumStaff

I've watched Medium morph into a game show, with surprise bonuses and promises of riches if you play along, and that's not for me. I've moved on to Substack and I like it there. I've kept my publication, and I'll cross-post now and then but I really don't like what's happening here.

It's demoralizing and soul-crushing and it's sad to see so many good writers become puppets on a string, at the mercy of a cruel puppeteer dangling dollars over their heads, enjoying the anxiety he's created.

It surprises me that with everything you've said here you're still encouraging writers to stay. Why?