Thanks for the reply! Wasn't expecting one to be honest so it's very much appreciated...

The thing I was referring to was more that close friends now require anyone not logged in to make an account to read the full story.

Here's a screen shot of what an incognito browser shows when going to a paywalled story.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jfyc0fttzfcr40x/Close%20Friends%20when%20NOT%20Logged%20In.png?dl=0

Personally as someone who gets most of their traffic from SEO, this is a bit problematic as it means I need to keep everything out side of the partnership program.

I get why you'd want to make the change but at least for friend link clicks, it would be helpful for people to be able to read without being forced to make an account.

Otherwise, when sharing to social media, I have no choice but to keep it outside of Medium's paywall as I don't want to force my audience to sign up to read.

By the way, this is just a theory but I've noticed a drop in SEO since the change went live. Just thought you might want to know.