I hear you! Like much of the internet, a LOT has changed at Medium over the past couple years. What we were doing wasn't working -- memberships were falling for years, and things got pretty rough. So Medium made several changes, including a new CEO in 2022, and Boosting in 2023.

When it comes to Boost, it's actually the opposite of a popularity contest: writers with 5 followers are as likely to get Boosted as writers with 50k followers. It's an equalizer!

The most reliable way to get Boosted is to work with a publication. I wrote about that here: https://blog.medium.com/how-can-i-get-boosted-33e743431419

And then have a list of nominating publications here: https://blog.medium.com/nominating-pubs-bb4923442864

For writers who've been on Medium for a long time, the question is always "but is this new system actually working?!" Based on the fact that we just hit a million members, it appears that it's working for us and our members: https://blog.medium.com/thank-you-for-one-million-members-d0b39d1be8b3

The larger question of is it working for you is different, and one only you'll know the answer to. As a writer myself, I believe strongly that every writer has sovereignty to make choices about what feels right for them. I'm here to provide all the information I can so that writers have the tools they need to make educated decisions... but ultimately I believe a writer's loyalty must always be to their own writing (not a platform).

Let me know if you have additional questions after reading those posts!