I'm curious what "polarizing negativity" means. I write about racial injustice and this may be considered polarizing to some, but it's a topic that's absolutely necessary and one that many people enjoy reading about. Hate speech is already banned on the platform. Will writers like me, and those who write about racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamaphobia, antisemitism be treated as polarizing writers under this system?

Also, I do not think it's a fair assessment that low read percentages are always indicative of poor writing, especially when the topic provides information that is shocking or heavy. There are many articles that I enjoy but can't read until the end because of time constraints that have nothing to do with the quality of a story, or because I am reading to obtain a few quick facts which I found useful. It's cool to reward stories with a high read rate, but as an editor of a few publications, I find that some really well-written stories have a low read rate, and am concerned they will be short-changed for being niche writers.

Other than that, I like the emphasis on quality over quantity, bonuses for boosted stories, but it's important for me to understand how Medium will classify "polarizing negativity" because this is a subjective phrase. Thanks for all the hard work you've done in listening to writers and attempting to make productive changes.