I have thoughg about this more. You mentioned that your article about Medium brought you more money and reads than your other articles. That is because most of your readers are writers who are interested in Medium.

People who are readers won't give one 50 claps - only writers will. That's because people who are interested in writing read all about claps (and it makes them feel good if they receive 50 claps). So, essentially, what Stubblebine is saying is that all these writers are simply reading each other's work so they are not drawing readers from outside Medium in.

What Data Science writers do is they write about IT (which is a vast topic). They draw in people who want to know how to code in various languages, what is happening aboot Web3, and who recently got fires at Google.

Most of the people there are readers - they are not writers. They are not interested in the personal lives of the writer. Nor are they interested in feel good information.

What those readers want is hardcore data, and they are looking for experts to give it to them.

when Stubblevine talks about having a bit of personal experience thrown in, he doesn't mean the entire story is about one's life. He is talking about making your rare expertise more user friendly.

The people on this site who will continue to earn are the doctors, the scientists, the people who have a level of expertise in something that requires a specific higher level of knowledge in particular fields.

Where management made a mistake was in making this a writers' site. As a reader, I do not have one bit of interest in writing. I never have had. It is only a useful skill in that I can use it to earn a living. Likewise, I have no interest in typing - although I generally type at 100wpm. I have no interest in gaming, although I am a professional casino dealer in some 9 games and have dealt on 3 continents. Never had any interest in gambling.

In the same way, those people who write about data science are not interested in writing. They are intersted in data science. Writing is just a means of conveying information.

Stubblebine is looking for experts in their fields - an area with enough interest for people to be drawn to the platform.

IT comprises a vast range of different dusciplines - I was a programmer and web designer in early days. On top of it, it grows at an exponential rate, doubling in knowledge every six months.

On the other hand, what is there to know about being a successful writer?

1. You got lucky.

2. You are probably gifted.

3. it is a talent.

4. The core of good writing is in bringing to the reader what the reader has never read before, and bringing it in such a way that people find it pleasurable to read. Corey Doctorow, on this platform, is an excellent example.

5. People who can't spell, write a grammatical sentence, or put together a structured piece of writing are not writers and never will be.

When you have 50,000 people, all faithfully reporting how much money they made each month, or who is doing what on Medium, that is not bringing non-readers looking for expertise to the platform.

I am 100% sure that the current structure of payment will not be changed. Medium should never have been made a writers' platform because what it drew were hundreds of thousands of people who wanted to be writers but who had no particular expertise in anything.