I don't know that the problem with this is entirely the fault of the platform. I do see many writers who believe just because they publish on Medium, they should be making money. But there are so many factors which play into why they don't. Such as for some writers, writing about topics no one wants to read, writing poorly, which pushes readers away from wanting to read, and a lack of interest from some in actually promoting their own work.

On the point of curation, I can see why it has become over applied. When I started in 2019, it seemed to be a human driven process to a large degree. However, it seems to be much more automatic now. As soon as something becomes automatic like this following a set of rules it is open to being manipulated. So as long as your writing fits the defined parameters, you get curated whether or not this was the intention. As you say it takes the challenge out of it, if you by default write within their parameters.