Medium’s New CEO Got Me Off the Bench

Thanks CoachTony! I’m back and cautiously optimistic.

Image by Kelsey Vere from Pixabay

Something wildly unexpected happened today in the Medium world. Ev is out as CEO and Tony Stubblebine will now be helming the operation. For me personally, this is an exciting turn of events.

Last year, I hung up my Medium spurs in protest of what I saw as union-busting behavior during the Medium Workers movement, which eventually led to the dismissal of several editors whom I’d worked with closely.

A protest from a guy with just over 1,000 followers on here wasn’t exactly moving the needle, but it truly was a matter of principle for me. Even after the editors in question told me they were fine with me continuing to use the platform, I couldn’t do it; it just felt wrong to me.

This was a decision made easier by the fact that it truly felt like Medium was perhaps on a fatal downslide. Every writer I knew felt the algorithm was crushing them, earnings were down across the board, and no one seemed happy.

A base of unhappy writers seemed like a death knell for a website devoted to writing.

I did see some interesting developments from the sidelines, including bonuses and guaranteed payouts, etc that were enticing, but again my stubbornness around what happened kept me away.

With today's change in leadership, I finally feel free to begin writing again on Medium. To be honest, I’ve missed it. I’m excited to be back. If Tony has had this same effect on even a small percentage of the disaffected and lost writers over the last years, it could mean a serious change is already taking place under his leadership; a revitalization this website badly needed.

I don’t know Tony personally. I’ve been published a few times in the Better Programming pub, an offshoot of his brand and I’ve always found them to do great work. As Tom Kuegler pointed out in his article today, I love the idea of Medium being helmed by someone who comes from the creator world. His perspective will be uniquely different from that of Ev’s, and that alone is worth getting excited about.

There are certainly many areas of Medium that could use some improvement, and I believe that extends beyond the often maligned algorithm. It of course needs some work, but the platform as a whole has a lot of room to grow and provide better tools and options for writers, and I believe Tony’s experience will lend itself to addressing these issues.

Of course, it’s also entirely possible that nothing is going to change. Time will tell. I’m cheering for you though Tony, and excited to see what’s coming and getting back to writing.