I've concluded the only way Medium works is to keep attracting new readers and writers who pay $5 a month. The more writers there are, the more cash flows in. Some fade, new ones sign up. Some of us stay. but from the manager perspective, it's about expansion. The more people who pay $5 a month, the more sustainable and profitable this business is, but it doesn't trickle down. I have about 8K followers and I make MUCH LESS than I did after writing for about six months (I'm on year 3). My wages have fallen from a high of over $1500 a month (partly due to bonuses) to around $120 a month and they continue to fall. I don't have an exact niche and I rarely write viral articles. You need a lot of followers and a simple message you hammer home--in most cases--and you need to write articles regularly that reach thousands of readers. Then, there are the writers who already have success and a following who've now shifted to Medium, or added Medium to their already successful Substack account. These writers take some of the bandwidth away from those of us in the "middle pack" area. I make more money than most, but I've been doing this for 3 years and have dozens of email subscribers. The algorithm isn't working for me. I can't do much about it because I don't plan to write in one topic area, so at this point it's a hobby and my articles have dwindled to maybe 1 per week. It's a shame, and this model discourages good writers. I would guess very, very few writers here make a living at it. Part of the reason is, admittedly, it's a full-time job+ to be successful in this business, and that's always been the case--and I don't want to work 50 hours a week or more marketing myself, writing clickbait, and developing myself as an influencer.