Should I join the Medium writing platform? Probably a better question would be, "Should I not join the Medium writing platform?"
The reason that I have passed on getting involved with them in the past was because I had been led to believe that I had to pay a $5.00-a-month membership fee of some kind to post articles on their writing platform. It turns out that I would only have to pay that fee if I actively wanted to read other people's articles on that same writing platform. In other words, the membership as a writer is free.
There are pros and cons to joining the Medium writing platform. The pros are that there is no rule on that writing platform against you publishing an article that you have done so elsewhere on the Internet. That's nice to know. The HubPages writing platform doesn't give me that benefit.
From what I have gathered, it appears that the Medium writing platform doesn't use ad revenue to pay its writers. In that sense, Medium could be best described as a digital cousin of the Hive writing platform and the PEAKD.com writing platform. No, Medium is not a decentralized writing platform, but like Hive and PEAKD.com, advertisers will not be holding you hostage to their superficial values.
If any of you wish to accuse me of having published some highly controversial articles here on the Hive writing platform and the PEAKD.com writing platform, I stand guilty as charged. I like having the freedom to publish whatever my heart so desires, because writing is a way for me to get concerns off my chest that I could not do on the HubPages writing platform.
Therefore, here is my next question. How much artistic freedom do Medium writers have in that same respect? I'm going to have to read their community guidelines to find out how that all works.
I don't mind being told that I have to keep each of my paragraphs limited to five sentences in my articles. Also, I don't mind occasional constructive criticism from a grammar Nazi here and there. However, if I want to voice my opinion and my findings regarding a controversial topic, I don't like a writing platform that keeps my hands tied behind my back. Censorship is not my idea of artistic freedom.
I know that if I publish anything on the Medium writing platform that I have published elsewhere on the Internet, I'm going to have to start policing those same articles to ensure that nobody has plagiarized them. Unlike Hive in which there is a seven-day time limit, I will be earning money on every article I post on the Medium writing platform indefinitely. Therefore, I won't want anyone else stealing my work and wrongfully capitalizing on it.
As far as anyone worrying about their articles here on the Hive writing platform and the PEAKD.com writing platform being plagiarized, probably most Hivers, Hiverians, Hivereans, Hivians, Hiveans, and so forth stop caring about it after their 7-day earning period has expired for each article they post. However, that will not be the case for me on the Medium writing platform.
Now, how will I be earning money on each article I post on Medium? As I stated further back herein, writers don't earn money from ad revenue on that writing platform. The readers who pay $5.00 a month to view articles on that writing platform fund the compensation to the writers.
Instead of getting a series of thumbs-up for your successful articles as you do here on the PEAKD.com writing platform, you get what I believe is called a clap for your successful articles. The number of claps you receive for each article depends on its level of success. I'll certainly find out once I read through all the community guidelines and so forth on Medium.
What are the cons of joining the Medium writing platform? Come to think of it, none come to mind. Some of the writers on the HubPages writing platform have had a few unkind things to say about Medium. However, it seems like each writer has had a different experience on Medium from one another.
I'm probably going to go ahead with my decision to join the Medium writing platform. If any of you out there are already members of the Medium writing platform and you'd like to share your experiences with me, feel free to post in the comments section below. I'd be interested in knowing about how much success you've had on that same writing platform.
I'll keep you posted on how everything goes once I start posting on the Medium writing platform. If I start really making the big bucks on that writing platform, my decision to join it will have been well worth it.
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