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For the past ~3 weeks Medium has blocked virtually every article I wanted to read and is asking me to pay. Most of these are programming tutorials related to so

by bnt 6y ago

For the past ~3 weeks Medium has blocked virtually every article I wanted to read and is asking me to pay. Most of these are programming tutorials related to some obscure Rails features. Honestly, I feel like Medium is the worse place to put your content. EDIT: For context, I don’t mind people monetizing their content, but in that case I’d rather pay them directly (like GoRails), and not a “subscription” for something I might check once in a while.

sas1ni69 6y ago
Incognito mode works for me.
- tacker2000 6y ago
  Yea but that cant be the real solution.
  - nuker 6y ago
    Its the only solution for 2020 web. Plus, of course, vpn and adblocker.
    - CarelessExpert 6y ago
      The only solution? So... in 2020 the only place to publish long-form content is Medium? Well... TIL.
      - zild3d 6y ago
        no but some content is on medium, so it's helpful to know
    - brianush1 6y ago
      If you're using an adblocker, might as well add a paywall blocker to the mix: https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome
- agilob 6y ago
  It doesnt work for everyone, I always use firefox auto-mulitcontainers where each tab has its own container with no history and cookies and I still get blocked by medium
  - dspillett 6y ago
    Often when using incognito doesn't work for "limited free articles" paywalls it is because you haven't restarted your browser in a while and have had incognito windows open for a time too. Session cookies happily persist in incognito windows while you have them open and are shared between such windows.
- jwlake 6y ago
  You can just block cookies from medium.com and everything keeps working.
dhimes 6y ago
Would you prefer ads or paying writers through Medium?
- jiofih 6y ago
  None. People are unwittingly sharing free content on the platform because they are not aware of the paywall.
  - dhimes 6y ago
    My understanding is that authors can get paid.
- stronglikedan 6y ago
  I prefer ads, but I'm one of those weirdos that doesn't see a problem with ads, and actually prefers targeted ads.
  - durovo 6y ago
    Same here. Would love to see a targeted ad that makes me buy something new.
    - criddell 6y ago
      If it's a programming tutorial, it seems like the ad doesn't need to be targeted to you specifically, but to programmers in general. I really don't want to see another Zappos ad for some shoes I bought a month ago when reading a React tutorial.
  - stanulilic 6y ago
    I thought I was the only one.
  - kgwxd 6y ago
    I prefer ads because, if they're a typical tracker disguised as an ad, I can block them without feeling even a tinge of guilt. A few weeks ago I saw an ad on a blog post. I think it's the only one I've seen all year. I was so surprised, I looked at the source. It was just an image, hosted on the same domain, wrapped in standard anchor tag. It was even something I might consider using, a server monitoring service. I had never been so happy to see an ad.
bioinformatics 6y ago
Usually if you save to Pocket it will open fine.
- zepolen 6y ago
  Suggesting a workaround is not addressing the root cause. Please don't.
  - scaladev 6y ago
    Would you also advise against installing ad blockers?
    - mrspeaker 6y ago
      Personally, I use an ad blocker - because I'm worried about the security of third-party code running on my machine. But I'm also moving towards the OP's idea... I stop reading articles/content that require a technical workaround to a political/philosophical problem. Any workaround strengthens the core problem. Medium doesn't mind if you use a workaround - as long as you are using it. The business model is validated and metrics show that users are happy with it. The only way to change their mind is to stop using it entirely.
    - conductr 6y ago
      Ads are a universal problem. Starting an post on HN saying “hey let’s not use internet to advertise” will have zero impact. You have to take into your own hands and block. A thread about changing how programmers distribute written content in the context of HN could actually have an impact.
  - bioinformatics 6y ago
    Of course it's a workaround and it would be better if the content would be freely available. I don't know the business model of Medium, don't know if contributors are getting paid, but I only suggested a way to read the articles without having to pay, before the issue gets resolved.
rem1313 6y ago
https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome works like a charm
iamcreasy 6y ago
Not the best solution - but I post it on twitter and use that link to access the article(since Medium paywalled article is free through twitter) and delete the tweet in few seconds later.
- hashingroll 6y ago
  TIL
Rochus 6y ago
The author decides whether the article is accessible for free or not. If the author is not in the partner program, even all of his articles are accessible for free. Read https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018677974 https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018677974 section What does the checkbox do
- rawfan 6y ago
  That is not correct. I've had people complain they couldn't read my articles on Medium and I never took part in the partner program.
  - Rochus 6y ago
    > That is not correct That's an official publication of the company behind medium. Maybe they had some bugs in the past or the people who complained or the author just made mistakes. Try to access this article: https://medium.com/@rochus.keller/implementing-call-by-reference-and-call-by-name-in-lua-47b9d1003cc2 https://medium.com/@rochus.keller/implementing-call-by-refer... Can you access it or not?
    - dylz 6y ago
      There are separate walls like account walls, max x articles per day, requiring sign in that are in addition and uncontrollable from paywalls, IIRC.
      - Rochus 6y ago
        For metered content, "non-members get a select number of free stories in their member preview, which replenishes on the first of each month." (see https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017581433-About-the-metered-paywall https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017581433-About...). If you hit the preview limit, you get the message "Not every story on Medium is free, like this one. Become a member to get unlimited access and support the voices you want to hear more from." Non-metered (i.e. free) content is not behind the metered paywall. Also if the author posts a "friend link" the article is freely accessible, even if metered otherwise. Do you have other sources?

by bnt 6y ago

sas1ni69 6y ago

Incognito mode works for me.

tacker2000 6y ago
Yea but that cant be the real solution.
- nuker 6y ago
  Its the only solution for 2020 web. Plus, of course, vpn and adblocker.
  - CarelessExpert 6y ago
    The only solution? So... in 2020 the only place to publish long-form content is Medium? Well... TIL.
    - zild3d 6y ago
      no but some content is on medium, so it's helpful to know
  - brianush1 6y ago
    If you're using an adblocker, might as well add a paywall blocker to the mix: https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome
agilob 6y ago
It doesnt work for everyone, I always use firefox auto-mulitcontainers where each tab has its own container with no history and cookies and I still get blocked by medium
- dspillett 6y ago
  Often when using incognito doesn't work for "limited free articles" paywalls it is because you haven't restarted your browser in a while and have had incognito windows open for a time too. Session cookies happily persist in incognito windows while you have them open and are shared between such windows.
jwlake 6y ago
You can just block cookies from medium.com and everything keeps working.

dhimes 6y ago

Would you prefer ads or paying writers through Medium?

jiofih 6y ago
None. People are unwittingly sharing free content on the platform because they are not aware of the paywall.
- dhimes 6y ago
  My understanding is that authors can get paid.
stronglikedan 6y ago
I prefer ads, but I'm one of those weirdos that doesn't see a problem with ads, and actually prefers targeted ads.
- durovo 6y ago
  Same here. Would love to see a targeted ad that makes me buy something new.
  - criddell 6y ago
    If it's a programming tutorial, it seems like the ad doesn't need to be targeted to you specifically, but to programmers in general. I really don't want to see another Zappos ad for some shoes I bought a month ago when reading a React tutorial.
- stanulilic 6y ago
  I thought I was the only one.
- kgwxd 6y ago
  I prefer ads because, if they're a typical tracker disguised as an ad, I can block them without feeling even a tinge of guilt. A few weeks ago I saw an ad on a blog post. I think it's the only one I've seen all year. I was so surprised, I looked at the source. It was just an image, hosted on the same domain, wrapped in standard anchor tag. It was even something I might consider using, a server monitoring service. I had never been so happy to see an ad.

bioinformatics 6y ago

Usually if you save to Pocket it will open fine.

zepolen 6y ago
Suggesting a workaround is not addressing the root cause. Please don't.
- scaladev 6y ago
  Would you also advise against installing ad blockers?
  - mrspeaker 6y ago
    Personally, I use an ad blocker - because I'm worried about the security of third-party code running on my machine. But I'm also moving towards the OP's idea... I stop reading articles/content that require a technical workaround to a political/philosophical problem. Any workaround strengthens the core problem. Medium doesn't mind if you use a workaround - as long as you are using it. The business model is validated and metrics show that users are happy with it. The only way to change their mind is to stop using it entirely.
  - conductr 6y ago
    Ads are a universal problem. Starting an post on HN saying “hey let’s not use internet to advertise” will have zero impact. You have to take into your own hands and block. A thread about changing how programmers distribute written content in the context of HN could actually have an impact.
- bioinformatics 6y ago
  Of course it's a workaround and it would be better if the content would be freely available. I don't know the business model of Medium, don't know if contributors are getting paid, but I only suggested a way to read the articles without having to pay, before the issue gets resolved.

rem1313 6y ago

https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome works like a charm

iamcreasy 6y ago

Not the best solution - but I post it on twitter and use that link to access the article(since Medium paywalled article is free through twitter) and delete the tweet in few seconds later.

hashingroll 6y ago
TIL

Rochus 6y ago

The author decides whether the article is accessible for free or not. If the author is not in the partner program, even all of his articles are accessible for free. Read https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018677974 https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018677974 section What does the checkbox do

rawfan 6y ago
That is not correct. I've had people complain they couldn't read my articles on Medium and I never took part in the partner program.
- Rochus 6y ago
  > That is not correct That's an official publication of the company behind medium. Maybe they had some bugs in the past or the people who complained or the author just made mistakes. Try to access this article: https://medium.com/@rochus.keller/implementing-call-by-reference-and-call-by-name-in-lua-47b9d1003cc2 https://medium.com/@rochus.keller/implementing-call-by-refer... Can you access it or not?
  - dylz 6y ago
    There are separate walls like account walls, max x articles per day, requiring sign in that are in addition and uncontrollable from paywalls, IIRC.
    - Rochus 6y ago
      For metered content, "non-members get a select number of free stories in their member preview, which replenishes on the first of each month." (see https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017581433-About-the-metered-paywall https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017581433-About...). If you hit the preview limit, you get the message "Not every story on Medium is free, like this one. Become a member to get unlimited access and support the voices you want to hear more from." Non-metered (i.e. free) content is not behind the metered paywall. Also if the author posts a "friend link" the article is freely accessible, even if metered otherwise. Do you have other sources?