Why I Still Choose Vocal Over Medium

I always felt super cool when I would make eggs with ketchup when I should have been sleeping. I rarely did it, but it had all started from when I was in Israel and was quite jetlagged.

Between Canada and Israel, there is a seven hour time difference, and when you're young and picky about food, eggs tended to be a safe bet for me. I think we were at my mom's friend's house, and I don't remember how the ketchup ended up on my eggs. I just remember that it was midnight there, but only the afternoon in my jetlagged child brain. But the idea of having this silly looking breakfast for dinner at midnight? Super cool.

What does this have to do with the famous Vocal versus Medium debacle? I'm not too sure to be honest. I just know that I felt a whole lot cooler starting my writer's journey on Vocal at a time where everything felt scrambled, then signing up for Medium.

No disrespect to the Medium platform, but I didn't get the same rebellious egg-citment as I did when having breakfast at midnight- I mean, writing on Vocal.

I started writing on Vocal because I moved up to Nunavut to teach and there was already snow in the middle of September. Definitely cool. And people wanted to know what my new life in the Arctic was like. Instead of repeating the same facts and stories to each individual family, friend, and stranger, I could just link them to Vocal. That was over three years ago.

And much has changed in my life, as well as on the Vocal platform and community.

While Vocal grew, and I discovered the many Facebook groups dedicated to supporting Vocal writers, I soon found a community there. I made some friends and met lots of great writers with even greater stories to share. We challenged each other, collaborated on pieces, started more groups, and tried to foster as much of a supportive environment as possible. Even though I had been on Vocal for almost 2 years prior to joining any external Vocal social media group, there was a lot I still hadn't known.

The thing is, is that Vocal grew too fast, and many started to get really frustrated with the fast-paced changes and slow mediation of glitches and issues. I definitely struggled this past summer with a Stripe issue which took four months to fix. Others gave up on Vocal, I figured I'd stick around.

I did though, sign up for Medium this past summer because it started to spread into the Vocal group conversations. It spread like fire, and definitely heated the flames that frustrater Vocal creators had. A lot of people switched over to Medium in the last six months.

The thing is, is that you probably make a lot more money on Medium than Vocal due to the basics. It's a bigger platform with more members, SEO, and a more established structure. Vocal is still in the kiddie pool to be honest.

But... even though I signed up for Medium, and put in about the same amount of effort, time, and words into both platforms... I still only made about $2-3 a month.

What a joke right?

And that's with almost daily promotion on multiple groups, sharing with family and friends, and engaging with dozens of writers weekly.

So why do I still eat eggs with ketchup at midnight?

I mean... why do I still write on Medium and Vocal? And more importantly, why do I prefer Vocal after so many have left it for its faults?

Vocal gave me a sense of community.

In the foundation of its creation, its all about writer communities i.e. themes. You could write for Beats, Cleats, VIVA, etc. They didn't stop at fiction, non-fiction, and poetry- they extended beyond what we know as genres, and created communities around themes and topics. But while you can write slasher fiction, you can also dissect a real life murder case and they'd both find a home in the Horror community.

And while I never wrote for Potent, Proof, or Filthy, I absolutely love that those communities exist! I find that these communities gave space to themes that you wouldn't usually see featured so openly alongside things like the environment (Earth) or bitcoins (Chain). It makes Vocal look versatile.

Sure, it's sometimes difficult to find the perfect spot to park your story in (and many have complained about that actually), but I love it. For me, it gives Vocal that unique factor. And Medium... just doesn't do it for me.

Will I still write for both? Yes.

Because who doesn't love an extra $5 a month to help pay for... an overpriced red pepper? (Produce is very expensive in the North)

Will I abandon Vocal like many have been doing lately? I don't think so.

And if I'm really being honest, I post quantity on Medium, but quality on Vocal.

(And I'll keep putting ketchup on eggs only after 11pm)