In case you did not see my response on Facebook, here is my answer to your question of “Is writing on Facebook a waste of time?” in the online community you created with the intention of helping others.

“As someone who values community and emotional connection with those in it, I am confused by this. Medium wouldn’t be what it is without the personal essays and the friendships we established from this very platform. It’s what makes it special — to provide a creative space for writers to come together to challenge the status quo.

One of the biggest problems in society is a lack of empathy. We’ve been told our entire lives not to talk about our feelings. Not to talk about our flaws. Medium allows us to own our vulnerability and that’s what it makes it valuable. Without the emotional content, we just become a reflection of what the world wants us to be. We already stigmatize ourselves in reality, why stigmatize ourselves on Medium?

What do you consider poetry? It’s no different than what you just described here. Poetry represents relationships, sexuality, mental health, self and life lessons.

Since when do you decide what is “good product”? Michael, this comment is a direct insult to everyone in the group. You’re saying that content online is so fucking terrible in general, that you don’t understand people who make less than $50 a month yet there is a large number of members in this group who are barely reaching that amount.

Was this group not created to uplift other writers? Telling them what they can and cannot write about isn’t.”