Medium is offering 1 x $50,000 and 4 x $10,000 prizes this month.

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   Titiaposted 3 years ago

   I really would hate it if HP should start with offering prizes.
   I don't see any advantage in turning this site into a lottery.

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      NateB11posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      +100

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   Miebakagh57posted 3 years ago

   ++++++

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   PaulGoodman67posted 3 years ago

   Ev Williams seems to be throwing everything he has at Medium to try and get more writers and readers and make the site profitable.
   
   That's the only explanation for why he keeps radically reorganizing the site, then introducing things like bonuses for a few months, then switching to cash-prize competitions.
   
   He's pumping in money from his own pocket, according to the research I've undertaken. The venture capitalist funding dried up some time ago.
   
   I therefore don't see what's happening at Medium as a particularly good sign.
   
   HP has a more plodding approach, but hopefully that means longevity. I guess time will tell.
   
   (And yes, as sallybea said, HP did used to do competitions with cash prizes)
   
   (And yes, I may still enter the Medium competition )

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      DrMark1961posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Throwing money at the writers to increase readership? What about the readers?
      It sounds like solid Bubblews strategy to me.

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         EricDockettposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         I often wonder how many people actually sign up to read articles. It just seems like a bunch of writers competing for each other's attention.
         
         The writing I've done for Medium is some of the worst I've put out there. On HubPages, I write to help people or teach them something. On Medium, I have no idea who I am writing for or who would care.
         
         Personally, I would contribute there a lot more if they changed to an advertising based revenue sharing model.

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            Kyler J Falkposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            I've always found that no matter what is being written about on Medium, the vernacular there is typically like that of SOAPBOXIE. Whether it be a medical discussion about gender, or simply discussing your financial situation via an article, you find the majority choose a click-baity, soapbox-like tone. At least that has been my experience, it could just be how they categorize what I see.

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            Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            The only recurring revenue I can see there is from, how to write articles on Medium to get lots of views every month. LOL I read some of those.

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         Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Exactly what I thought when I saw the headline.  $90K out of pocket?  Only to friends and family who will give the winnings back lol.

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   Solarasposted 3 years ago

   If it is too good to be true, it probably is.

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   Kierstin Gunsbergposted 3 years ago

   That’s awesome! I like the revenue sharing formula here though. It’s what keeps me here.

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   Solarasposted 3 years ago

   Here are a few details on the contest and subject matter.  https://blog.medium.com/introducing-the … 8a95f6d17f

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   PaulGoodman67posted 3 years ago

   I really don't care much for writing competitions but I will write some stuff for this one for 3 reasons:
   
   1. Ev Williams is throwing his money at it.
   2. The standard seems generally pretty low at Medium, if my feed there is anything to go by. 50% of it seems like garbage with a clickbait title. I think a lot of the writers here will be at an advantage, provided they can make their writing Medium friendly, which means an article that uses a personal/colloquial style with some sort of takeaway..
   3. The competition titles generally seem easy to fit work around, the only harder one being "Reentry".

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   Miebakagh57posted 3 years ago

   I will consider Medium in the nearest future.

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