The goal of the Boost Nomination Pilot has been to test out how nominating works, so that we can then build the tools in-product to bring the program into the Medium Partner Program. The goal has never been to have the program stay small -- the goal is to collect data about how folks interact with nominating, so that we can build the best in-product tools that scale way WAY up.

It takes time to test things out, but Tony's strategy with this program has always been that there should be hundreds and then thousands of publications participating. The goal is the opposite of the one-percenters.

Think it through: Medium doesn't benefit from one-percenting... Medium's membership business model is focused on encouraging more writers and more publishers to use the platform, in the interest of more members joining. Why would we want to gatekeep folks using tools that facilitate the company growing?

The Boost Nomination Pilot is small because it's an experimental beta program where I'm trying to gather the data to prove that community-driven curation can work to increase quality content across the platform. I'm growing it as fast as I possibly can, but it takes time to gather that data... and then it takes time for engineers to build the tools that will scale the program up for hundreds and then thousands of folks.

If you'd like to hop on a call to discuss, just let me know. My goal is transparency, and I'm always available to chat.