Is A $5 Medium Membership Worth It In 2021?
Is a Medium Membership worth it? Otherwise known as a Medium subscription?
That’s the hard question.
Is it worth it to shell out $5 of your hard earned cash to read locked stories by authors that you could *PROBS* find somewhere else on the internet if you really looked hard enough?
Do you even care about reading that much TO shell out $5 to read content that’s somehow better?
Is Medium worth it?
Let’s answer all of these questions, but first, let’s answer this one..
What Can You Get With $5?
$5 isn’t a lot of money, guys. It can get you a mid-sized frappucino at Starbucks. It can get you half a meal at Mcdonalds (not counting the fries and drink). Most people throw away $5 on needless purchases all the time without thinking twice about it.
So why are we so hard-pressed to spend $5 to support some of our favorite writers with a Medium subscription?
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Is A Medium Membership Worth It? — The “No” Argument
No. Not even just no. HELL NO. It’s not worth it at all. It’s borderline ridiculous to say that people should pay to read written content with a Medium subscription.
Yes, words are powerful, and they’re extremely valuable. As a blogger who makes a full-time income from my writing, I’ll be the first to say they’re some of the most valuable things in the world..
But I don’t want to pay $5 to read a blog post. Even unlimited blog posts. I just don’t care that much. I don’t see the value.
We just have to ask ourselves this question..
How can we justify spending $5 to read blog posts written by nobodies when some people pay downwards of $10 for a 200-page masterpiece written by a vetted, polished subject who’s most likely the creme de la creme of their industry?
How?
It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I don’t get out of it what I want.
Let me make this incredibly clear..
I’ve had a Medium Subscription since early 2017 when they announced the program, but I’ve NEVER gone out of my way to read any of the locked stories/“magazines” that Medium produces.
Why did I become a member, then?
Here’s why..
Is A Medium Membership Worth It? — The “Yes” Argument
Is Medium worth it? The Medium Subscription on its own isn’t really worth it if you asked me. Even at $5—the price of a coffee at Starbucks.
Yes, you get a lot of content, but you can get these opinion pieces/strategies anywhere else on the internet for free if you looked hard enough. You know?
The biggest reason to become a Medium Member (and the reason I am one) has to do with being part of something bigger than myself.
As a member you can choose to financially support writers who never thought they’d ever make a dime from their writing.
Seriously, this in and of itself is worth it!
Also, Medium’s mission is sound. They think that great written content is valuable enough to pay for.
They see a future internet where people rightfully pay for the best information out there. They think the old ad-based system for websites to generate income is broken.
And it sort of is. It’s outdated and ends up creating a culture of click-baity headlines and sensationalism.
And dammit, that’s a mission I can get behind.
Instead of getting paid by big businesses, why not get funded by the people who ACTUALLY read your sh*t? You see, I love that.
I’ve been behind Medium’s core mission from day one. When they said something about creating a program for writers to get paid I was in. From hour 1.
I think if you’re asking ‘is a Medium membership worth it?’ you have to consider more than just what you’re getting back.
You have to consider the bigger picture, and I think if you do, you’ll realize the Medium Membership fee is more than worth it.