I agree--since the changes, I don't enjoy reading Medium articles as much. Something about the interface just turns me off.

And as a writer, I'm starting to wonder if putting energy into Medium is worth it. I'm not sure I understand what 'promoted for wider distribution' means. Although that said, in recent months, it felt like curation wasn't as powerful a driver as it was in the past. I've had stories curated in three categories that got less than 10 reads. Interested to see how 'wider distribution' compares to old-school 'curation.'

Also, without tags, will there be no more top writer status?

Hoping these changes are a temporary step on the way to improved features.

Thanks for the article.