I think you're absolutely right. I was thinking about all this. I was addicted to Twitter - same problem - before Medium. That didn't pay. So it's not just the earnings. It's the social side (I think I'm lonely without it).

But the problem is, Medium takes more time than Twitter, and then financial justification of all that time kicks in.

It's taking time and money away from the day job. The problem is that I want to be here, but it pains me to see my annual income looking so poorly. :)

Not that we're on the breadline, but I'm supposed to be earning a minimum wage. I hear you - this isn't the place to do it, but who doesn't want to make something they enjoy their work. :)

Also, I admit, I was originally lured here on the promise of earnings when one new writer declared he was earning $3k a month in 2001 and that Medium was giving top writers a $500 monthly bonus. I thought I needed to give this a try and got hooked.

I'd been resisting for months before that for all the reasons described in this article. I didn't want to get hooked on trying to earn 50p for a day's work.