I will eventually leave Medium, but not yet, and not for the reasons you might think

It’s creeping up on me, this realization that I will need to move on. But this is not a Medium-bashing story. I’ve enjoyed the platform even though the changes introduced in August 2023 caused a collapse in the growth of my followers and earnings. So, the reason for the looming farewell is not because I want to criticize Medium. There used to be a nice Chrome extension which no longer works. It showed lifetime views and reads. Months ago the figure was at 600K+. I’m sure it’s now closer to a million. That’s a lot! My stories have been read hundreds of thousands of times by total strangers.

My writing on Medium has been a mess. Beautiful mess? Maybe. I never had a niche. I wrote on many topics. Russia, America, travel, running, business, current affairs, pop culture, family, life, struggles, success, relationships. I often wrote spontaneously, sharing my fleeting thoughts and emotions.

And this is the problem, this mess. I feel the desire to simplify my life, my identity, and my influence. My influence? Yes, there are things I’m passionate about, and I want to focus on them. I want to be a voice of influence. I no longer feel excited about the ‘catalog’ of my past stories. I used to use the word ‘eclectic’ to describe my writing. It sounded positive, but I’ve evolved. I want less eclecticism and more simplicity. More focus. So, I have to make choices.