And there has been radio silence since Ariel's departure. Just the most basic, formulaic info, but no insights, advice, encouragement which at least were sent regularly to nominators under the previous regime. The sense is that 'the pilot phase is over, and the boost is now simply another gear within the mechanism, ticking over in the background'.

The closure to new pubs was inevitable, I felt. I'd been saying for months that the maths simply don't work out: if you end up with 10 times as many boosted stories, but roughly the same number of actual readers (not clap and runners), then each boost is worth ten times less in audience terms, and becomes valueless, while still costing Medium the same nommer's fee.

The 'we'll expand to 1000 pubs' idea was never going to work.

They should have been honest, they should have let people know months in advance (because if you're setting up a pub and trying to build up a critical mass for a viable application, that will take at least 2 months, more for newer users with a smaller network).

They failed with their communication. Has there ever been a case when Medium hasn't failed with its communication, I wonder.

A platform based on verbal expression that is incapable of competently issuing a single worthwhile statement...