Sure. I began writing here in 2018, I wrote under a pseudonym that was a derivation of my own name at first and used a real photograph of myself. I got lucky in late 2018 when I wrote https://medium.com/lucid-nightmare/nazis-in-our-classes-the-50-year-old-lesson-about-fascism-still-terrifying-us-today-839c3222dc23
This article, and a few others, pushed me to about 800 - 1000 followers over the course of my first year - and because it's evergreen it still adds a couple of quid each month three years down the line. I engaged with readers as myself, using my own sex, race, gender and profile picture. In late 2019, Medium pivoted to Medium publications. Over the course of 2020 they largely encouraged and curated pieces that were identity politics heavy. I found the constant arguments about identity to be irritating as it was an ill defined concept - and so in May 2020 I threw my toys out of the proverbial pram and wrote this.
https://medium.com/@UKjammers/im-now-identifying-as-penguin-d14ca4dc413c
It was at this time that I asked myself the question what would Nazis do if they had Facebook - and realised that there are intolerant idiots on both sides of the political spectrum. I'd stopped writing in 2020 because my work wasn't being curated or read and I switched to commenting - I commented a lot. Most of my followers came from finding those dissenting comments on the work of writers favoured by the curation team and the lefty-love-bubble. Those comments had gathered me about 1.5K followers in total at the start of this year but earned me nothing. Lots of investment, not much return.
In February this year and utterly bored of reading the same things over and over again. I wrote a piece that was pretty much a direct attack on the stupidity of identity politics.
https://medium.com/lucid-nightmare/we-did-it-everything-is-racist-and-patriarchal-now-9c43cebc5828
It bombed. But not for long.
In March, Medium realised the error of only curating an echo chamber. Ev sacked off the professional journalists and the bloated nepotism-led publications weren't pushed so hard. Indie writers like me found themselves being discovered again. Suddenly, my ranty article was curated and resonated with readers I'd never seen before.
That was a few months ago and was the rebirth of the Penguin. I've picked up another 700 or so readers since then - from all over the political spectrum. Interestingly, the Penguin gimmick has allowed me to develop my writing voice into a self styled centre-ground provocateur. I try not to take myself too seriously and I've developed a loose style that tries to combine deep concepts with a light and breezy humour. I am similar to this in real life - but it's far more pronounced and sassy under the guise of Argumentative Penguin.
I don't think I'll ever Bruce Wayne or Barbara Gordon myself. I'm enjoying the fun of building a brand around the Penguin instead. There are, of course, people who do know who I am - people who remember me before my identity change- but for the most part, people accept the Penguin at face value and I see no reason to change it. Argumentative Penguin is a work in progress, but in taking a non-identity stance against identity politics and biding my time, it's one that now works for me. Provided there's not another Medium pivot, I'd hope to move from 2.2K into the 5K - 10K followers range by the same time next year - a tall order, but I'm relishing the challenge.
Apologies for the length of my comment. Brevity is not my strong suit - but I hope you found it useful. :o)
