I agree. For those, like me, who write a lot of stories under 2 minutes in length, the new blog layout means someone can read my stories and it will not count as a read (I am guessing.)

I actually think the blog layout idea is fine for profile pages (even better if they count as reads.) I don't think many people visited Profile pages before. Now readers are routed to Profile pages if they click on the "following" icons. I like that. So time will tell.

But I think the blog layout is a disaster for publications. Stories will disappear very quickly. Especially on popular publications.

By the way, you can now Mute any publication or writer via the three dot menu by a story. So you can mute those publications and writers you aren't intested in. Doing that makes a HUGE difference in your feed. My feed is mostly publications and writers I follow now. Which is the way it should be.

The new layout is a mixed bag for sure. Blogging is back on Medium, whether we want it nor not. I hope they rethink the blog layout for publications, though. And come up with something better.