Hello William, I fully agree that pay-walls or forced signup-up walls are annoying. I dislike that part of Medium too. I chose Medium because it has a beautiful editor, and it allows me to increase the impact by increasing my readership.

There is no point in writing for myself. I want others to read it. Right? I want to share ideas, thoughts, ... but I also want to get feedback. I find that interaction meaningful.

Your feedback for example made me think about other was to share online. I'll experiment with some other tools and may even create one myself.

Thank you,

Alex