I don't have access to the data to back up this theory. All I see is that the big writers now get approximately the same number of likes and comments as I do. We are now on a more equal footing. I get fewer stories earning less than a dollar, so the average per story is up, without needing to have viral posts to redress the imbalance.

Others have said the same thing. They earn a bit more per post than they used to.

Of course, we are all growing our followings, so it might be that effect, but it seems to me that it's more equal. I cannot prove it. It's just anecdotal evidence.

But we all experience peaks and troughs on our Medium journey. That's just how it is.

The subscriber thing periodically stops working for everyone. It's glitchy. Either Medium Help can fix the problem when it occurs, or subscribers can resubscribe and then it starts working again. I know it shouldn't be this crap. But it's crap for everyone - not just some folk.

The fact that he has posts that only accrue 11 views serves to illustrate my point perfectly! I have posts with 11 views too. In fact, I have a few with less than that. This is normal for everyone on here. Finally, he is getting the same level of traction as everyone else, and he doesn't like it.

Oh and posts about sex will often gain a following if they start to take off. I've had a few do well about naked people. It's the subject, not the writer.

You're spot on though - transparency isn't very good. It leaves us all guessing. I think that's deliberate because if it was transparent, people would try to game the system.

Newsbreak shows impressions. That is transparent. I can see that they don't circulate some stories at all. Coach Tony did indicate that they might do that on here, but I think everyone would moan about low impressions.

That would certainly make everything more transparent though! I think a lot of it has to do with impressions.