I predicted this situation in some of my earlier meta articles. Writers are divided into cohorts and for each Cohort there may be a different EPR and distribute.
The cohorts are decided based on type of topics the writers write, time they have spent on the platform, how much they engage, how much they write, etc. It can also be random. All they aim for is to pay super less and earn more profit. They aim to normalise the situation by leveraging on our reactions. They are quiet but surely observing. They know that most people would still continue writing here as they are hooked to the platform.
The EPR are reduced strategically in a way that it feels like we are improving in cents and hence to keep us hoping for a better future so that we stick around.
In this process most of us will get adapted. They want us to get used to the new normal.
Those who don't give a damn and move out of membership wouldn't cause them much loss as they are regularly getting in 2X 3X or even more people into the MPP.
Their marketing is very clever. It's done through few recruiters who act like just one of us writers but earns great or have good following. Some would target to influence writers who are about to quit. Others would influence new writer's to join by telling them that we can earn good money if we write here. In $1000 range or even more per month.
At the moment they leave us with two options, aim for higher visibility and brand building by writing even more and marketing us on other platforms or engage more with others to get more reads. Basically work even harder if you want to see any kind of growth.
The other option is slow down and wait or keep doing whatever you were doing without hoping for anything.
The EPR may bounce back, but by that time there would be lots of behavioral changes that we have made and our motivations would be shifted.
Although the situation sucks and Medium may end up losing big time, the entire situation is all planned and is a masterpiece of a scam(if you want to call it that)
Am I over thinking?
