Moving Out - Time to Move On from Medium

“Moving Out” by SHERWOOD @ Flickr

Medium is a structurally a pretty good platform, but I feel compelled to move back to move back to a platform that enables better control of content and accessibility through search engines.

The concept it started with was excellent. They gave writers a place to write and a platform that distributed their work fairly.

That all changed, and it has disintegrated over the last couple of years.

Some would point to the paywall implemented, which does have a lot to do with it. Mismanagement and a general lack of interest in maintaining a fair and balanced platform for all writers are the biggest problems though. That began before the paywall, which only made those problems more glaring.

Medium appears nothing more than a tabloid now. The articles shown to first time users are often sensational, racist, relatively inappropriate, totally on the wing, and collections of “How to Do X Better” written by individuals that do not have the slightest idea how to improve their own position, much less that of another.

Curators at Medium perpetuate this problem, forwarding that agenda. As a result, many notable and respected writers and publications have abandoned the platform.

Since implementation of the paywall, the downward spiral continues. The paywall pushes all other writers away, except those willing to immediately invest cash. In a normal print situation, that might work out well, but this is the internet. Anyone with an internet connection and $5/month can write any sort of nonsense and have it catapulted into a respectable and highly visible position on the platform.

Writers unwilling to buy into the scheme do not have a chance, and their writing is purposely buried within the platform, as well as search engine results.

One example is Tags. Recently, I contacted support about this inconsistency with accepted practice on the rest of the internet.

Tags are inconsistent. I noticed this many months ago, but wanted to test it for awhile and make sure I was not missing something. I am not. Tags do not always work as they should.

Tagged stories are not appearing in the archive as they should, and the archive is not always displaying tagged stories as it should.

It almost seems as if someone forgot to update some code when your organizations switched from the 3 tag restriction to enable 5 tags.

Example …

Recently, I published a story —

https://medium.com/@jusTodd/a-blue-hole-quest-2627cd2963be

It has the following Tags — photography, arkansas, waterfall, ozarks, hiking — and is dated May 26, 2020

Clicking through on those tags, I would expect to see my story included within the 2020 Archive for that Tag, as well as the May 2020 Archive for that Tag.

Results…

Photography — The 2020 Archive displays the latest as being from another writer on May 19 (May 21, if you click through on on the latest for May). My story does not appear at all, if you click through on the latest for May 2020.

Arkansas — The 2020 Archive displays the latest as being from another writer on April 19. My story only appears if you click through on the latest for May 2020.

Waterfall — The 2020 Archive displays shows the latest as being from another writer on May 25. My story only appears if you click through on the latest for May 2020.

Ozarks — The 2020 Archive displays the latest as being from another writer on April 16. Mine only appears if you click through on the latest for May 2020.

Hiking — The 2020 Archive the latest as being from another writer on Mary 13. My story does not appear at all, if you click through on the latest for May 2020.

Medium support responded ...

The ranking and distribution in tag pages is determined by several factors: engagement with the post, recency of posting in the tag, time spent reading the post, and other social indications.

As such, it is a dynamic list that does and will change frequently.

So, this is really just a Social Media platform, and much like the rest of the platform, Tags function as popularity contest, rather than the way they should.

There are so many other little quirks like this too. If you are not a paid member, you will find them, they will annoy you, and your work will be pushed down the ladder in favor of a story about how the Republicans are responsible for your premature balding and inability to get an erection, or some other story much less appropriate for a General Audience.

As a photographer, don’t even get me started on the practice of stripping metadata from photos. I should have saved that response to the support ticket created about that.

I will continue to write for some of the publications on here, mostly towards my area of expertise, usability and GIS. The things I want friends and others to read, without being assaulted by racism, nonsense, or other inappropriate content are being moved.

Time to Move On from Medium

Medium is a structurally a pretty good platform, but I feel compelled to move back to move back to a platform that enables better control of content and accessibility through search engines.

The concept it started with was excellent. They gave writers a place to write and a platform that distributed their work fairly.

That all changed, and it has disintegrated over the last couple of years.

Some would point to the paywall implemented, which does have a lot to do with it. Mismanagement and a general lack of interest in maintaining a fair and balanced platform for all writers are the biggest problems though. That began before the paywall, which only made those problems more glaring.

Medium appears nothing more than a tabloid now. The articles shown to first time users are often sensational, racist, relatively inappropriate, totally on the wing, and collections of "How to Do X Better" written by individuals that do not have the slightest idea how to improve their own position, much less that of another.

Curators at Medium perpetuate this problem, forwarding that agenda. As a result, many notable and respected writers and publications have abandoned the platform.

Since implementation of the paywall, the downward spiral continues. The paywall pushes all other writers away, except those willing to immediately invest cash. In a normal print situation, that might work out well, but this is the internet. Anyone with an internet connection and $5/month can write any sort of nonsense and have it catapulted into a respectable and highly visible position on the platform.

Writers unwilling to buy into the scheme do not have a chance, and their writing is purposely buried within the platform, as well as search engine results.

One example is Tags. Recently, I contacted support about this inconsistency with accepted practice on the rest of the internet.

• Tags are inconsistent. I noticed this many months ago, but wanted to test it for awhile and make sure I was not missing something. I am not. Tags do not always work as they should.
• Tagged stories are not appearing in the archive as they should, and the archive is not always displaying tagged stories as it should.
• It almost seems as if someone forgot to update some code when your organizations switched from the 3 tag restriction to enable 5 tags.
• Example …

Recently, I published a story with the following Tags - photography, arkansas, waterfall, ozarks, hiking - and is dated May 26, 2020

Clicking through on those tags, I would expect to see my story included within the 2020 Archive for that Tag, as well as the May 2020 Archive for that Tag.

Results…

• Photography - The 2020 Archive displays the latest as being from another writer on May 19 (May 21, if you click through on on the latest for May). My story does not appear at all, if you click through on the latest for May 2020.
• Arkansas - The 2020 Archive displays the latest as being from another writer on April 19. My story only appears if you click through on the latest for May 2020.
• Waterfall - The 2020 Archive displays shows the latest as being from another writer on May 25. My story only appears if you click through on the latest for May 2020.
• Ozarks - The 2020 Archive displays the latest as being from another writer on April 16. Mine only appears if you click through on the latest for May 2020.
• Hiking - The 2020 Archive the latest as being from another writer on Mary 13. My story does not appear at all, if you click through on the latest for May 2020.

Medium support responded …

The ranking and distribution in tag pages is determined by several factors: engagement with the post, recency of posting in the tag, time spent reading the post, and other social indications.

As such, it is a dynamic list that does and will change frequently.

So, this is really just a Social Media platform, and much like the rest of the platform, Tags function as popularity contest, rather than the way they should.

There are so many other little quirks like this too. If you are not a paid member, you will find them, they will annoy you, and your work will be pushed down the ladder in favor of a story about how the Republicans are responsible for your premature balding and inability to get an erection, or some other story much less appropriate for a General Audience.

As a photographer, don't even get me started on the practice of stripping metadata from photos. I should have saved that response to the support ticket created about that.

I will continue to write for some of the publications on here, mostly towards my area of expertise, usability and GIS. The things I want friends and others to read, without being assaulted by racism, nonsense, or other inappropriate content are being moved.

Read more about other concerns with Medium, from others with more organized thoughts … I just hammered this one out. Here are a few to get you started:

The Member-Only Articles Make Me Want to Leave Medium, Not Pay for It - There are a few articles about this already, but as time goes on, complaints that go unnoticed need to be shouted again…medium.com

Dear Bad Writer, Stop Using Profanity as a Crutch - Does a cultural phenomenon have to be "fucking awful" or can it be "repulsive," "repugnant?" Maybe it's simply…medium.com

Feed Me, Medium - Since joining Medium almost a year ago, I have really enjoyed this platform. There are so many great writers here…medium.com

Journalism should be free - Last July, ProPublica journalist Jessica Huseman spent a long Twitter thread condemning readers of a North Jersey…theoutline.com

Native Stone & Buffalo

Looking north from K-4, near the headwaters of the East Branch of Mill Creek in Kansas

Waterfall discovery from Landon Trail to Mount Mitchell by way of Native Stone Scenic Byway

Thunderstorms invading Kansas City seemed reason enough for escaping the confines of concrete, steel, and manicured lawns to once again review the lonesome prairie south and west of Topeka in Kansas.

A crayfish wandering the gravel road near Overbrook, Kansas

After passing through a torrential downpour in the south part of town, the sun began to peek through in places and dryer conditions prevailed. While encouraging for this excursion, it was not so reassuring to the local residents, who continued their quest for higher ground.

Mural in Overbrook

The trailhead for the Landon Nature Trail near Overbrook turned into a quest of its own. The situation is not identified, and exists only as a path of neck-high growth leading through a tree line between two farm fields. Conditions were certainly not conducive to exploring that avenue further.

Former Missouri-Pacific Train Trestle on the Landon Nature Trail

Diverting course to an alternate intersection of the trail, discovered while reviewing coordinates for the primary objective of Swissvale Falls, proved a fool’s errand. Access to the trail was blocked from the west by a swollen Camp Creek, but circling around from the east found the trail more identifiable. It remained mostly unassailable though. The state of affairs between poison ivy and rushing waters eliminated any desire to continue the search.

Top: Schoolhouse near Overbrook / Left: KSU vs KU Mural in Scranton / Right: “Freash” Eggs in Burlingame

Various small towns further down the road produced a few amusements worth pondering. Indeed, one instance required serious consideration of past spelling lessons. The local schoolhouse probably should have remained in use.

Sante Fe Trail Marker west of Burlingame, Kansas

This former Santa Fe Trail route abruptly ended just west of Burlingame, forcing a detour around a pending bridge replacement. There had been sufficient warning, which was duly ignored. One must sometimes assess the situation personally, and the navigator found an acceptable replacement for pointless backtracking anyway.

Small herd of Buffalo near Eskridge, Kansas

In no time, a herd of Buffalo stared at us in wonder at our own wonder of their sudden materializing. Most of them passively grazed without so much as noticing our existence, especially the new calves, clearly obsessed with the fresh grasses all around. An older bull and a few of the younger only glared back in obvious contempt of our ill-mannered intrusion on their breakfast.

Left: Waugh Bank Building  /  Top: Sutton Food Store (native stone) / Bottom: Tiles above Entry at Waugh Bank Building

Down the road from the great herd, Eskridge stood tall and proud, but mostly devoid of any sort of life. Unique stone architecture abounds, the significance of which did not become apparent until later at separate roadside park. It seems that most of the masonry in this region comes directly from the surrounding land.

Kansas Highway 4, west of Eskridge

Skies continued to unfold a beautiful day on the Native Stone Scenic Byway. Conversation led to one thing and then another. It was just about the time talk wandered to describing the particular circumstances typically surrounding an appearance of falls, the very topic of discussion unexpectedly materialized.

Lake Wabaunsee Falls, Kansas

A couple of hundred meters below the spillway for Lake Wabaunsee, water splashed across a limestone creek bed, dropped a meter or so and passed under the road, hurrying away for an appointment with the East Branch of Mill Creek. Very little space is afforded for parking more than one vehicle to observe this phenomenon, but traffic and general lack of population left ample opportunity for this expedition to trample the area thoroughly.

Kansas Native Stone Scenic Byway

A small rest area hosted a sign explaining the purpose of the billions of miles of stone fences witnessed along this route. Lacking basic services taken for granted in the current era, one had to do something in their free time, especially if the government was willing to pay for the rock stacking hobby.

An old homestead near Alma, Kansas

Some were inventive with their use of stone, building elegant entrances to their abode. It was too late for this homesteader though . They fenced him in and he was never heard from again.

Waterfalls at Alma City Reservoir in Kansas 

The waterfalls at the Alma Reservoir turned out a total bust. It was surprising, considering the amount of rain that had been hammering the countryside in the last week, and the earlier downpour. A few resident cottonmouths scattered in various directions on the hike down to observe the trickle of water percolating through the ground into a few murky pools of water.

Railroad Park in Alma, Kansas

Alma waited just up the road with fuel for our transport and body. On her skirts, a tiny historical park greeted passers-by with a display of abandoned properties from the glory days in the eastern Kansas prairie. All but one were shuttered tight, and the amount of dust that had settled within the millinery suggested clients were few and far between.

Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie

A little farther up the prairie, a monument stands on a lonely hilltop once sacred to the Native Americans of this area. Captain William Mitch claimed it and the surrounding land for his own during the Kansas territory period, much to their dismay. He helped establish the Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony here. The relatively famous abolitionists from Connecticut helped stop the advancement of pro-slavery forces with support form John Brown. It is a good vantage point for such an endeavor, though they probably cooked under the summer sun of the prairie.

White Chapel School of Pottawatomie County District 51 in Wamego City Park, Kansas

The clock permitted one last brief pause for reflection in Wamego City Park. Signs of life were returning in the wake of the recent masked hysteria. The buildings remained closed, but people were out enjoying the day, and the playground no longer banned children from swinging as high as they could.

...

Further Reading

Landon Trail

Kanza Rail-Trails Conservancy

Kansas Native Stone Scenic Byway

TravelKansas.com

Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie
MountMitchellPrairie.org

Faces at Cave Hollow Park

Very little has changed at Cave Hollow Park over the past million or so years. Erosion continues the slow and steady work it set out to accomplish. Trees live and die. People come and go. Some changes appear long-lived, but most in the last century are but a blink in the eye of the geology timeline.

Little is known about the prehistoric history of the park. It is first noted as far back as 1880, when the Grand Army of the Republic set up the Colonel Grover Post nearby. The location quickly became a popular spot for adventurers, young lovers and later, more commercial enterprises. A spring supplied water for the old town of Warrensburg, and later a hospital leveraged the space for a “pest house” to rid themselves of those plagued by Small Pox. Then it filled with trash as a dumping ground. It returned as a playground sometime in the 1970s, after increasing pressure from the community.

Accessing the park is easy enough, but finding the trail that leads to the more interesting aspects requires some insider knowledge; or only a little poking around. A partially hidden paved path next to the playground leads into a deep wooded ravine. Various branches split off in different directions, most of which led nowhere.

One diversion offers a glimpse of a massive rock shelter cave, visible from the main path, similar in scope and size to that at Graham Cave State Park. This one seems a bit larger, though not as deep. A few more digressions on either end of the structure lead to the top, and smaller adjacent, shallow caves.

The main paved path abruptly ends at a park bench shortly thereafter. At first glance, it appears to open only on a small hollow, containing several smaller rock shelter caves. Closer inspection reveals other oddities.

A face or two, animals, names and symbols appear etched in the rock at every turn, along with more modern painted additions, decidedly less attractive and equally abundant. These petroglyphs seem as though they could have been chiseled by some long-forgotten tribe, but are of unknown, somewhat modern origin. It is a tradition understood to traverse the history of the space, and an intriguing display of the desire of man to be remembered.

The brief 300-meter ramble through this wooded geologic time capsule is peaceful, beguiling, and thought-provoking. It is difficult to imagine this place as anything other than it is now, much less the dumping ground it was throughout half of the 20th century.

Certain individuals have not entirely given up on the effort either, in spite of years of citizenry calling for restoration of this environment. At the opposite end of the park, not all that far away, space appears used for disposal of a variety of waste products. It is likely the most surprising aspect of the situation, since run-off could easily poison either stream or cave structure.

. . .

further reading

Warrensburg, Missouri by Lisa Erle

Google Books

Blue Hole Quest

Evans Mountain Road near Appleton, Arkansas

Up Evans Mountain, across to White Oak Mountain, and down to Hurricane Creek

Winding north out of Appleton, the road quickly deteriorated, first to gravel, then packed earth, with a smattering of gravel here and there. A lonely road grader had been hard at work fixing the situation, so it proved no worse than driving on a slushy winter road.

Lush green of surrounding forest consumed the view on all sides. Enhanced by fog that increased with altitude, the scene stood reminiscent of the Great Smoky Mountains.

In this part of the world, signals are often blissfully lost for hours. A good atlas is a requirement, as road signs can be somewhat suspect, but sometimes offer just a bit more detail than the map.

Entrance to Blue Hole Road near Appleton, Arkansas

Blue Hole Road appeared quite the quagmire, having been the benefactor of so much rain the previous day. The 5 km descent to Hurricane Creek begins here, and the sloppy red clay mud quickly gave way to a relatively suitable gravel path through the forest, only occasionally rutted from prior use.

Field of poison ivy along Blue Hole Road

The cool and damp Ozark mountain air enabled movement at a decent clip. However, the finest crop of the evil Toxicodendron radicans ever witnessed deterred any thoughts of wandering off the trail.

Other less noxious species poked out the Sea of Itch only occasionally, adding some charm to the environment. Against a backdrop of the drip and trickle of water, coupled with morning birdsong, were the only signs of life.

Most of the forest bolts straight for the sky, competing for any scant touch of sunlight successful enough to pass through the thick green canopy. Some contort into odd sculptures to heighten advantage; or perhaps, simply for the sake of amusement, to pass the time. Trees can be great deceivers. Indeed, in collusion with the wind, they often trick a mind into believing one is nearer to rushing water than is actually true.

Blue Hole Cascades near Lost Corner in Arkansas

In appropriate range of the situation, the sound of water cascading across rocks and rippling down downstream is unmistakable. Arrival at the primary spectacle of waterfalls along Hurricane Creek required very little effort. The uncomplicated trail descent consumed roughly 90 minutes of relatively non-perilous foot travel.

What goes down must come up though. A continuous ascent of 5 km mocks any expecting to make the same progress as preceded their arrival, opening the 500 meters with a steep and and arduous climb out of the creek bed. The sun emerged halfway along to facilitate things, ensuring steamy conditions.

Lost Mountain, Arkansas

Surfacing from the forest, fluffy white clouds sailed from tree top to tree top against a canvas of blue skies. The journey down and back had been worth every moment, and the return to home base slipped by as quickly as the potential precipitation raced across the sky.

. . . 

Further Reading

Blue Hole Road

AllTrails.com