One of the reasons why this happens so much on Medium is that a certain self-help/life-coach-for-profit culture has been entrenched on the platform for years.

Since almost the first day I started on Medium 5 years ago, people have either pitched "classes' to me that they want me to pay for or they've advised me to create and charge for classes, telling me that's where the "real money" is.

Since you've published some stories that are pretty popular, the "Medium gurus" told me, focus more on advice and coaching, then offer a free workshop, then use the free workshop to pitch paid classes.

People want advice and instruction, and they'll pay for it! Go for the gold!

Well.

I never took that advice, which disgusted me, but the model is still big in certain circles, which include some pretty popular Medium writers.

PT Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute," and that maxim applies to today's digital world as much it ever applied to the snake-oil salesmen Barnum was referencing.

If a certain subset of people can figure out how to make a buck, they are going to try to do that, regardless of their ability or the consequences to others.

That's why Medium is full of so much worthless advice.

But here's a hot tip. If you notice somebody is offering workshops or classes, block them. Your feed will soon contain far less bullshit and will have more room for good writing that exists for the purpose of being good writing.