Practical Growth is Now on Substack
I’m still posting. Just not here.
Things have gotten a little shady here on Medium. Not just a little shady. Really shady. From the tidal wave of AI slop that the content team has failed to moderate (and in some cases has allegedly promoted to the top of the distrubution pile), to the endless barrage of lies, excuses, and shadow play from the administrative team — this site is not what it once was.
Medium used to be a place where real, human writers could shine. Those days are gone. So, instead of fighting with a CEO who has made his intentions clear, I’ve moved my main publication (Practical Growth) over to Substack.
I have a few personal reasons and opinions that have fuelled this decision:
- The guides and essays I write help people, and they’re meant to help people. My writing can’t help people if it’s not shown to them. Substack makes sure that the people who follow me *see my writing*. Unlike here, on Medium where real human writers are limited from their writing being seen by the people who signed up to follow them.
- Substack has remained faithful to writers throughout the ups and downs of the recent changes in this industry. They have remained (relatively) transparent and (appear to ) make choices that center the writers of their platform which keep them running. They also continue to pay writers fairly and on time for their paid subscriptions. So, ethically and morally, it’s a superior choice on that point alone.
- In my personal opinion, Medium is censoring writers, especially those who question or criticize the leadership of Tony Stubblebine. So me spending any time here is pointless. It won’t be shown to you. Because I will always criticize poor leadership.
- In my opinion, the leadership of Medium continues to erode the quality of this platform. Writing quality is lower than it has ever been, engagement is non-existent (unless you’re a bot), it generates the lowest traffic of any of the other writing platforms (Vocal, Newsbreak, etc.), and the earnings for the quality of work the platform supposedly demands is laughable. What was once a promising site for growing writers is now a questionable resource that’s likely to get you discredited if you cite it due to poor quality, misinformation, and the high volume of AI content here.
- To be quite frank, I don’t like the lies the leadership continue to tell. I don’t like the gaslighting, and I don’t like the disrespectful way the CEO of the company comports himself. I don’t like that he goes on one site and says one thing, then comes on this platform and says a different thing. I don’t have respect for people of poor character and I don’t want to spend my time and energy publishing for a platform that I feel has an integrity problem in its leadership.
- In my purview, there is a substantial amount of misinformation that is now being peddled around this site, as well as right-leaning propaganda that is being pushed to the top of the distrubution pile. Pieces on Gaza are being censored, as well as any posts critical of the United States Government and Donald Trump. Crypto scams are rampant on Medium, as are engagement scams which leadership continues to fail to address.
There is a laundry list of other problems that you could address, but there’s really no point. Medium is a *sinking ship*, as those who have been here for half a decade or more could tell you. So, I’m getting off while there’s some lifeboats left — and I encourage those who will to join me.
I post 2x times weekly on Substack and cover all the same subjects you’ve come to know and love here (relationships, mental health, trauma, etc.). That’s not all, though.
Since I’m not beholden to the same censorship distrubition machine on Substack, I also share some of my more fun writing too. The things I’m curious about and the things that interest me. Plus, I’ll be querying a couple of my novels this year (as well as doing some painting) which I’ll be sharing there too.
So, if you’d like to continue to get my stories + a little extra peek at me and the things I love, give me a follow on Substack. My next new story is out on Wednesday and an all-new relationship sex guide is publishing there on Friday.
To everyone else here that’s hanging on, I salute you. I don’t think there’s any of the originals left, but if so — it’s been an honor. I appreciate everyone who has been on this ride with me. You helped make me a professonal writer and content creator and that means a lot. My life was changed by the site this platform used to be, but I’ll remember that place fondly.
Farewell for now ❤️
E.B.