Is Medium Still Worth It?

Photo by Pedro Araújo on Unsplash

Yesterday, I asked on Notes if Medium was still worth it. I’ve been debating whether to stay on the platform. So, I wrote this article for Medium and submitted it to a publication, but I received a private note stating that as of April 1st, Medium no longer accepts articles about Medium. What the???

So I guess I’ll share my grievance about Medium on Substack!

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I joined Medium in February 2022. At that time, I was blogging on my website and creating personal development content, trying to make a name for myself in this vast online world. One thing that appealed to me about Medium was that I could write about anything because I kept hearing, everywhere else, that I needed to niche down. But I couldn’t figure out one topic to stick to and write about, I have always had too many interests.

A few months after joining Medium, I launched a t-shirt business, created journals, and launched my podcast in April 2022! Again, I had so many interests that I couldn’t stick to one thing. So, I never could devote the time needed to grow on Medium. I saw article after article about how much money writers were making. Then came Substack! Writers who were making thousands on Medium were going to Substack and having success over there. They launched their newsletter and were able to convert paid subscribers. So, what did I do? Launched my Substack in February of 2023.

At this point, I had my blog, Medium, podcast, and Substack! After a year of doing my podcast, I started coaching others to launch theirs. Instead of publishing personal development content on my website, I moved that to Substack and started writing about podcasting on my website and repurposing on Medium. But I still wasn’t publishing consistently on Medium.

It’s been three years since I started writing on Medium, and the most money I’ve made on this platform is $10. I’m starting to question if it’s even worth staying on this platform because I feel it’s not the same as when I launched in February of 2022.

The platform feels like it’s full of AI bots; no one is reading, commenting, and each of my articles only makes cents. Is it that I’m not writing about things that people want to read about, or is it that I’m still not committing the time needed to see a return on investment?

I still have Substack and my website, so I’m repurposing content on Medium from both of those. This year, I changed my publishing schedule for my podcast from bi-weekly episodes to weekly episodes, so my podcast is honestly taking the majority of my time.

One thing I like about Medium is that I know their DA score is high, so the articles posted on here rank on Google. I’ve searched a few of the topics that I’ve written about, and my Medium articles come up in the results. So, should I continue to repurpose my articles on Medium?

I feel like I’ve been here before—questioning my writing and what I should do with Medium.

What I like about Substack is its community aspect—they have notes where you can share quick thoughts. You can message other writers, and people can find your newsletter from the Substack app.

I don’t know what to do! Oh, and to add to the mix, I’m an enneagram six, and we struggle with making decisions. So, there’s that!

I'm open to anyone giving me their insights or suggestions!

Thank you!