When people visit a state park, there are a few restrictions in place, but generally people can roam where they like and enjoy the space. When you go to a garden or estate, especially one funded by a trust - there are many restrictions. A fee is charged for you to get in and the paths are designed to channel people is pre-determined directions. Medium is much like this. Nothing takes place on Medium that is not pre-determined. Medium may not always get the intended result, but there was a result intended when they implemented the change. I'm not sure sense can be made of this, Doc, other than that Medium is caught in the same paradigm of reducing staff and costs while increasing the power of its algorithms. Result: more "random" patterns that aren't really patterns to begin with. Just an effort to produce a certain result. Profit might be in there somewhere. 🤔😁👍