Right there with you. Think I've been writing on Medium since 2017. Achieved top writer status on economics through 2019. Been replaced by neoliberal sources who have become the "editor's picks".

Medium is, after all, corporate-owned and managed.

Some months I have made over $30. More often that that I make less than $1, no matter how much I produce. Oh, well.

Yes, it all lies in the algorithm and page placement, which is increasingly anything but for Independent or creative writing.

I create because I have a drive to do so. That drive continues regardless of how much or little I am paid.