Why Do I Have Medium Paid Membership?
I miss the good old days on Internet! There were pop-ups, weird ads scroll types, but they were limited. The aim was not to hide content…
I miss the good old days on Internet! There were pop-ups, weird ads scroll types, but they were limited. The aim was not to hide content under ads, but earning money with the content. Now, I feel like people constantly try to trick me just because I would like to read their article… It is not the intention of article anyway?
Writing is not sustainable
I have been columnist and how-to articles writer between 2001 and 2003 for biggest tech magazines in the World. It was just before Internet to fulfill every request, so we were still making money, but it was always like: “Am I going to get my payment?” If it is your only work, it is hard to have a family and feed them. Of course, there are different types of writers and popularity — I am talking about regular ones like me. I was a student at that time, so any income was great, but I’ve never felt that it should be my work, and I am earning enough based on my effort. For example, I was reviewing 15–20 applications, and I was always installing, using and removing them. It costs me good amount of time as well as hardware costs, especially HDD.
It is not changed in year of 2022. I am still writing, but not dependent on a magazine. It is still not sustainable, but writing for joy because I really like it. Now, I have a job, I am in software engineering field for 20 years, so I am earning enough to live, and I could write as a hobby.
People need a voice
All these years, I’ve lived in 3 different continents and 8 different cities. What I learnt is that everyone has something to learn from. No matter socioeconomic or whatever, everyone has something that you don’t know, and you can learn. On the other hand, the World is not an equal place for everyone, so we don’t hear many important voices. I have been in streaming business as engineer more than 6 years, so I know the cost of it, no matter video or voice only. It is not cheap and technically is not possible for everyone. Nowadays, it is better as we have plenty of platforms to express our feelings and thoughts, but they are still bloated with ads and click-baits.
For me, writing is the only mechanism to reach people as a clear and relaxed communication channel. Of course, it is not for everyone, but I like writing and reading more than anything.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, physiological needs which are food, water, warmth, and rest. This pyramid is so true, that’s why it is so popular. As you can understand, all the physiological needs require money. Of course, you may have water for free if you are one of the lucky one, but unsafe water sources are responsible for 1.2 million deaths each year. It is not a simple number. We are all in COVID-19 pandemic and authorities expects 6.5 million people dead in total up-to-now. 2.5 years passed from the first death because of COVID-19 virus. Let’s do a simple math: 1.2 million people per year because of unsafe water source x 2.5 = 3 million people. It means, nearly half of the people who died because of COVID-19 dies because of unsafe water source. Do we hear it everyday on news? Do we have a dashboard which gets updates frequently? No… Absolutely, not.
What I am trying to say, that we need to support bright minds to continue spreading words. We need to support independent voices to see the reality of the World. We have to support people, so they can feel safe and write/talk/record more.
Medium is one of the best ways to support
I am one of Medium writer and I earn some money. As I mentioned in my article, I could buy a running shoe with my popular article. It was a one-time thing that could never earn that much again.
I also would like to support Medium writers because it is also the place that I really enjoy what people write. No weird ads, jumping on screen, trying to hide content under ads etc. Medium is very clean and fulfilling environment intellectually.
That’s why I am also a paid member of Medium. I like the idea of supporting platform rather than writing, earning some money and never visit by myself. I hope that it convinces you to support writers here!