I agree with the spirit of your article and appreciate your “chin up” attitude, Robert. The difference between Medium writers and New York Times writers is that the most monetarily significant segment of a Medium writer’s audience is internal Medium members and for that reason, they are drawn to writing about this internal struggle many people share.

New York Times writers are monetized toward the widest outside world possible. Medium writers who choose to write about writing on Medium (le sigh…) are simply taking the path of least resistance because they know people are looking for advice on how to do better on this platform.

It’s a phenomenon, for better or worse, that is largely built into and reinforced by the system, confirmed by the number of claps such articles receive. Content marketers are good at locating the pain points of their potential audience, especially when their audience looks like what they see in their own mirrors. Easiest thing in the world to write about your own work problems!