Breaking Up is Never Easy, But I’m Leaving Medium
Knowing me, knowing you
There is nothing we can do
Knowing me, knowing you
We just have to face it, this time we’re through
(This time we’re through, this time we’re really through)
Breaking up is never easy, I know, but I have to go
(I have to go, this time I have to go, this time I know)
Knowing me, knowing you, it’s the best I can do
lyrics from Abba’s song Knowing Me, Knowing You
Medium, I doubt you’ll even notice, but I’m breaking up with you.
We’ve been together a long time, Medium.
When I first wrote with you, 8 years ago, I was sick from the recent election. God, what a long, strange eight years we’ve had!
I’ve given you some of my best work, Medium. Maybe you made me a better writer, but maybe it was just that I found in you a place that felt safe and consistent…I don’t know.
I do know that eight years ago I was in a terrible place in my life, and it got a whole lot worse before it got better. I wasn’t around much during those first five years. But when I started to get better, there you were.
This is my 286th story with you, Medium. That’s a lot of intellectual children I placed with you.
But things change, don’t they? Sure, there’ve always been problems between us, but I stayed dedicated to our relationship. It was just easier that way. There were hundreds of children to consider, and I’d spent years building an audience with you (1600 subscribers! I hope you’ll all follow me to Substack!).
But it’s time, Medium. It’s time for me to move on.
I suspect you won’t notice I’ve left. It’s sad, but we never really had the connection I wanted us to have.
Not that you care, but the final straw came when I got the email from you last week. It’s bad enough that I have to pay $5 a month for the “privilege” to write for you. But now you’ve decreed that if my earnings for any given month don’t amount to at least $10, you’re just gonna hold onto them until they do reach $10.
I’m not going to go into all the ways that feels like a slap in the face. I’m just quiet-quitting. Maybe not so quietly, as I’m writing this missive, but as I mentioned, I’d be shocked if you noticed I’m gone anyway.
I’ve exported all my stories to my new Substack. I also have lots of them on my personal blog, and will be adding more incrementally as the “friend link” that Medium offers is (in my experience) hit or miss in terms of functionality and I want readers to have access to my work without having to subscribe to Medium.
At least in the short term, I will continue to post some stories to Medium, but it will never again be the primary platform for my work, and I’ll always post on Medium as an afterthought, after my work has been posted elsewhere.
No regrets, Medium…but I wonder if I ever really knew you.
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