Ibid, Tony.

I had the same experience as Jessica with certain notifications being turned off, checking with other Medium users about what was going on, blah-blah-blah. An announcement such as this greatly exceeds a “product update.” This whole thing smacks of exclusivity, desperation, and poor planning.

When I look at the “Updates from Authors” tab in my mobile app, those are the writers I read most. If in this new model I’ll be funding the promulgation of a glut of Team Listicle content … count me out. There are those of us who enjoy the writing here of lesser known writers who provide a substantive alternative to click bait.

As for the gateway link you mentioned, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was intentionally set to open once or something like that. Idunno. I’m no code guy.

Anyway, we’ll see what happens.