If there's a secret cabal then I'm certainly not part of it - and I doubt I'd be a very good member anyway, too much of a gobshite. This 'friends of medium' thing seems to be rolling out across the platform - but may take a few days. It's essentially about paying more - sort of extortion based friendship.

I just linked a previous piece (from 2021) to another comment and I'll drop it in here too. https://medium.com/p/a4345815f6fc - the piece is due for an update and I'll probably do one soon.

This is the most decentralised and writer friendly I've seen the platform become. We've had a few big earners flounce out in disgust that their heavily applauded 'set to broadcast' demagoguery is no longer filling the coffers the way it used to - but smaller writers and newer writers in particular are getting more rewards. It's trickle down readanomics and it's working well - I've taken the long view on this one and the new CEO's approach is working.