HI Marcus,
As I was made an unfortunate and unwilling expert on narcissism, I’d have to say that Medium does indeed display narcissistic tendencies. You touched on some of the symptoms of narcissism the website displays. I’d like to add to your hist.
Information hoarding: They use information as a weapon. They are reluctant to share unless they feel they absolutely have to.
Use of Word Salad: I think you saw the original hew terms of service that came out last August. I’ve attached a couple links to refresh your memory:
https://hollyjahangiri.medium.com/more-thoughts-on-mediums-new-terms-and-why-it-matters-
https://hollyjahangiri.medium.com/thoughts-on-mediums-new-terms-of-service-16c4d9f8ac81
The first link mentions that Medium could, in theory, agree to collaborate with Disney and make a blockbuster feature film about my life, for example. And that they would not need to pay me compensation. (Since my original biography made 43 cents, I would have already been paid.) This behavior describes another narcissistic trait: seeing its writers (children) as an extension of themselves (parent) without the need for autonomy or individual rights of their own.
I’d say the gaslighting and potential “lying’ by Medium reaches narcissistic levels. Over the course of the past 2-3 years, I’ve had several posts which get more hits on manystories.com than medium says they do. Example, I had a story called “Red on the Greens” which gathered 34 viewers at manystories. Medium says it only got 3 views across all platforms.
I regularly have people clap for stories Medium says they didn’t read. (Fans –1 , Reads – 0)
Another sign of narcissistic insecurity, they exhibit displays of jealousy. As is the case for some writers here, Medium doesn’t want them to succeed. They are jealous if some of their writers have successful stories that Medium doesn’t like. The third story I wrote for Medium garnered over 5,000 reads. Since then, my stories barely get 20 reads and rarely break 100. I find it hard to believe that since that story 3 years ago, I haven’t written anything as inspiring, interesting, click-baity, or informative enough to match that one story.
Lastly, the smocking gun proof that Medium definitely should be clinically diagnosed with malignant or severe Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is the way that they show favoritism towards a group of writers who, they believe, can do no wrong. These Golden (Children) Writers get more exposure, support and yes, income, from the Medium parent. They also have their scapegoats: writer’s who, according to Medium, can’t do anything right. Those writers who, despite the futility, defiantly continue to write for them. People who have had 2 curations in 400 stories are clearly being scapegoated, punished for perceived disagreements with Medium’s beliefs or feeling of thier own superiority.
(Perhaps not so ironically, my 5,000+ read story was called, “Everything I do is Wrong.”)
Clearly, if Medium were a person, it would be in need of therapy. This article from Dr. Diane Dreher in Psychology Today supports and gives evidence for the concept that yes, indeed, corporations can also have Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Let’s hope that for the sake of it’s mental health and the health of those around them, Medium reads the Psychology Today article and gets the help it needs instead of gaslighting, triangulating, belittling, and erasing Psychology Today out of jealousy and their deep insecurity.
