The more claps and comments on articles like this (mine is not the only one being the squeaky wheel( may help.. More articles making respectful, constructive suggestions may also help.

I am not a tech head, and your point about the need for seamless additions is important, but I have run WordPress sites for a long time, and every one of the basic features I suggest can be easily added to any WordPress site. So, I don't believe there are any technical obstacles to adding them to Medium--the codes are widely available. It is a lack of planning or will.

I suspect the Medium managers are terrified they'd lose subscribers if they promote higher content, and they have suggested as much. I say again and again that people won't pay for what they can get elsewhere for free, but like you, they will pay for higher quality content. Medium continuing to promote mainstream fluff rather than high-quality content is a business model leading to failure.

A multi-tiered subscription model is an interesting suggestion. I wonder if that would work. Thanks for your thoughtful comments.