Medium Just Turned Off One of the Best Aspects of Their Site
Medium no longer shows the email addresses of readers who subscribe to get your stories
Last month I launched a Substack (check it out). I had considered writing on Substack for the past couple of years but previously decided against it because I’ve been such a loyal Medium fan.
What finally pushed me toward Substack is that their system is based around collecting email subscribers — the number one most important asset a writer can collect.
I figured that if I launched a Substack, I would gain a third way to build relationships over email with followers, in addition to my blog and Medium.
Then, today I clicked into my Medium audience stats to check out my recent email subscribers. I was shocked to see that my newest subscribers didn’t show email addresses. (Screenshot below.)
I was floored.
I poked around on Medium’s Help page and noticed they no longer share email addresses — supposedly to protect user privacy and security.
WTF?
For any writer trying to build an audience, this really cuts us off at the knees. While other (growing) platforms like Substack and Beehiiv are blowing up because they allow writers to build their platform, has decided to actively block us writers from having this same type of access.
I just don’t get it.
I’ve written on Medium for seven years. I’ve built a following of over 12,000 followers here. I’ve amassed a million views on Medium alone. But for the past couple of years, I feel like Medium continues to get worse.
The algorithm doesn’t make sense anymore. Articles either explode (bigger than ever before) or completely fizzle out (smaller than ever). Most of the top publications have been gutted. And now, they don’t even allow writers to see the emails of the readers who have actively decided to subscribe.
I’m curious what all of you think about this new development.
- Does this change frustrate you as much as it does me?
- What have you seen happen to your Medium traffic and engagement the past year or two?
- Do you think Medium is better than ever…or worse than ever?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Other Places You Can Follow Me
You can always find me at BobbyPowers.com, and you can also now find me on Substack. ;-)
