My Account Has Been Revoked From the Partner Program

I guess one of my cartel members is snitch

Image by author via Midjourney

At 4pm JST today, I opened my Medium app, and navigated over to the Partner Program tab to check what my earnings were for the previous day.

But instead of seeing a few extra dollars, I saw this:

Screenshot by author

My account has been revoked from the Partner Program.

Of course, I clicked on the “reasons for revocation” and this is what it said:

Screenshot by author

So let’s unpack both of these, shall we?

In the past couple of days, I didn’t even log in to Medium, let alone engage with paywalled stories “in a coordinated way that isn’t authentic” (whatever that means.)

As for being part of a “reciprocal arrangement meant to artificially inflate earnings” — lol.

Gif via Tenor

Yes, I’ve been secretly recruiting a cartel behind Medium’s back.

Together, we have orchestrated a sophisticated scheme in which we can help each other earn anywhere from pennies to a full dollar or two every single day!

To all of the falcons in my Medium cartel, don’t forget:

Gif via Tenor

Now let’s take a look at the allegation of “paywalling AI-generated content in violation of our AI content policy.”

Gif via Tenor

Yep, you got me real good there, Medium.

Goddammit, I should’ve been more careful when I typed into ChatGPT:

“Write a story about a cozy corner and then come into my house and take real pictures of the actual cozy corner that I set up in my house” and then posted this article:

You Need a “Cozy Corner” In Your Home— Here’s Mine

Maybe I should’ve edited the details, made them a bit less OBVIOUSLY A PERSONAL STORY ABOUT MY REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE when I typed this into ChatGPT:

“Write a story about the horrible way I was treated by a colleague when I was 21 years old and built up the courage to come back to work after my father died completely unexpectedly on the weekend” and posted it:

I Don’t Agree With the Way You Handled Your Father’s Death

Perhaps before I posted this super fucking vulnerable story about how I feel about turning 40 and still not knowing what I want to be when I grow up, I should’ve… I dunno…

You tell me, Medium, since you’re the one who alleged that my stories are AI-generated.

I’m Almost 40 and I Still Don’t Know What I Want to be When I Grow Up

Maybe I should’ve chosen to write scammy bullshit like I referenced in this article, since I just checked and the author in question is still there, still posting their swindling lies every day.

This Type of Content on Medium Makes Me Sick

Apparently that sort of content is A-OK with Medium.

So what am I going to do about it?

I emailed the help desk to contest my revocation.

But there’s a part of me that feels like I shouldn’t have.

Why should I have beg and plead my case when I’ve done nothing wrong?

Why are legitimate writers, people who don’t even come close to breaking Mediums rules, having their status revoked, but con artists like the account I referenced above are free to shill their bullshit on here?

I joined Medium as a paying member.

I very quickly upgraded to become a Friend of Medium.

I am one of the many writers who create the content that keeps this platform alive, and I have been doing so in exchange for a few breadcrumbs being thrown my way.

And now, despite following Medium’s rules to a tee, Medium sees fit to revoke my Partner Program status.

I’ll wait to see what response I get, but I’m not going to lie — this has put a really bad taste in my mouth.

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