Why I no longer write on Medium

Cowardly censorship

Medium has suspended my account and pointed me to their generic terms of service, the most cowardly form of censorship imaginable.

I have no idea which of the terms I violated or how I could correct it. I specifically asked, and I was told nothing.

Since writing is about the message, censoring that message is the unforgivable sin of any platform.

Farewell.

It couldn’t be worse.

And, of course, I am not the first.

Poor Blogging Interface

Medium doesn’t have undo-redo buttons. I once lost over an hour’s work because I accidentally hit option-C rather than control-C. Medium immediately saved my mistake, and my work was irretrievably lost.

Medium has fewer style options, so text is harder to manipulate.

Medium has no images. You must supply all of your own, and if you copy any from the internet, they won’t have your back if one of those images is copyright-protected.

Medium doesn’t have a stock image library that automatically adds the proper citations.

Medium doesn’t have a gallery option.

Medium doesn’t have image generation of any kind. Substack’s image generator is powerful.

Medium doesn’t have insert capabilities for audio or video.

Medium doesn’t have any embed buttons like Substack.

Medium doesn’t have any of the more options with special inserts like Substack.

Bad User Interface

No Podcasts or Newsletters

Substack is known for these features. Medium hasn’t tried.

No Money

I don’t write for money, and I intend to make my substack free for all. But if I were motivated by money, Medium would waste my time.

Making money on Medium is rare and inconsistent.

Eighty to ninety percent of writers begin there enthusiastically but lose their excitement when they make $100 in a good month.

Medium is littered with clickbait articles about making money, none of which are valid.

Thank you, Medium

If you had not censored me when you did, It would have taken me much more time to migrate my work over to Substack and set up this website.

Now that I see how much better Substack is than Medium, I realize the future is much brighter there and here.

Happy Trails