Hi Lisa,

I’m not one to write responses, never have in fact. Maybe I’m anti-social to a point, but it was one feature of Medium that never thrilled me because I knew I’d use it rarely. I know people love it, and it is fascinating to see conversations spiral out, but lately, they are all over the place!

My relationship with Medium has been a little strained. It all started when I went for a trip to the Himalayas. The 10 days of disconnect broke something. Maybe I moved on. Maybe Medium did. I don’t know.

I’ve been reading your view about the shift of the Medium Vibe. I agree with you. There is something off about the place. It’s still Medium, the people who write still write, the platform is good, but the sheen of the white page is somewhere lost.

I had several roles on Medium: A reader, a writer, and an editor for the Coffeelicious. Many have complained that the feed never displayed good stories for them, or always showed life hacks, the kind that get boring real fast. I never had that complaint, because if my feed didn’t capture me, I’d stray to the Coffeelicious submission pile and that place could keep me well fed for months. But lately, even the Coffeelicious feed isn’t as entertaining. It’s not that the writers aren’t writing amazing stuff; they are, it isn’t as fun as before.

I can put most of the blame for my disconnect with Medium on myself. My professional life has seen an increased dose of activity as I juggle between a job, a new startup job (without pay), a literary agent who sees poetntial in my work. I somehow scrape out 2 hours a day to write — because if I don’t do that, everything else will suffer. And the late night novel readings don’t help. And in all this, Medium and especially Coffeelicious takes a hit. The Creme results haven’t been declared. I don’t even know when that’ll be possible. We don’t feel the repsonse we’d hoped to get.

There was a time when I used to sit everyday for an hour or two, editing stories, replying to email submissions. Happily. Lately, I don’t remember when was the last time I opened the Coffeelicious email to check. These things eat at me, but I can’t help drop a few balls as I juggle so many in a day. Prioritization based on immediate work is a bitch.

Like you, I’m still here in the background, waiting, watching, reading, hoping things get better with time. Medium is an amazing platform, an engaging one. I hate seeing it this way, and I hate being away from it.

I wish I was in college, I’d have the time to take care of this. I’d step up, round up the writers and take a stand. But growing up has made me realize how importatnt time is and somethings need to be left behind in order for you to move further. I hope, for me, Medium is not one of those.