Vocal Media Versus This New Medium Platform

I’ve been a writer on both platforms, Medium and Vocal, for about four years now and I’ve also been an advocate for Medium being the better platform of the two.

But, here I am, shocked to have to admit that I can no longer say this!

With all the changes on Medium over the last six weeks, I feel I’m in a leaking boat and it’s floundering in the water. Slowly, but surely, it’s sinking.

My experience over the last four years has always been that Medium invited community and in fact, I felt like it helped me build my writing family into something I could be proud of.

I have spent these years writing FOR Medium, and only publishing on Vocal because I’d written the stories and poems for Medium, so why not.

It has always been about Medium and I’ve been very vocal in highlighting Medium’s great camaraderie and as a bonus, its ability to allow us all to earn a little pocket money and compensate us for our hard work.

Vocal, on the other hand, was a website that had a lot to live up to when comparing it to Medium. It was harder to build an audience and the earnings……were always a laugh.

And then something changed with Medium in January 2025 and suddenly, it’s turned belly up and discarded its loyalty to its writers and those that pay its membership.

Just the earnings issue alone has seen writers running for the hills!

When it first happened, without a word of the change from the powers that be, we all found that we earned nothing for almost two weeks. Since then, we’ve all earned meagre pennies per day — if anything at all.

Medium hasn’t given us the courtesy of an honest answer and in fact, keep reiterating that the earnings have not changed — or should I say, they keep stating they are paying out the same amount each month — we are just not sure who they are paying our earnings to — because it’s certainly not the writers!

I laugh because I now compare Medium to Vocal and find that Vocal is the front runner of the two sites — and yet Vocal have changed nothing.

That says it all!

Now, I’m writing for Vocal and posting my pieces on Medium because I stupidly paid an annual membership on Medium in December, so I may as well still post on Medium until my membership expires — then I’ll join the rest of the good writers and jump ship.

Therefore, if you’re wondering why you don’t see me clapping your stories, commenting on your articles like I once did, please understand it’s not your writing that has chased me away; no it’s the sad state of affairs that is now Medium.

I don’t have the energy to put all that effort in to simply earn between $0.01 and $0.03 a day.

Medium, you’ve become a bit of a joke, I’m afraid!

To those writers that have already left, or are thinking of leaving, please let me know where I can read your work as I don’t really want to lose the friendships that we made here when Medium was worth the effort.

I wrote a more in-depth review on both platforms back in May 2024, and have included that review below.

In a short eight months, Medium has changed to such an extent, that its made my previous review invalid.

Enjoy the read and let me know your thoughts; do you still recognise the Medium that I describe in my review in May 2024, because I certainly don't.

It's like Vocal and Medium have done an about face and the Top Dog status has changed hands. 

It's sad to bear witness too!