I was taken by surprise when I got a notice that I had achieved top writer status about a month ago. It came at a bad time since I was partially blinded by a botched eye surgery and writing wasn't in the cards for a while until I could be "fixed".

The reason it came as a surprise is I couldn't think of anything that would have justified the distinction. I'm still thinking it isn't really that big of a deal and is likely just a tactic to keep retention up among writers. Don't let the title dissuade you from standing your ground.

If Medium wants/needs to increase its revenue position I'd rather see a fee for those who earn some solid numbers, either in a bracket that is progressive to earnings or a percentage. This would not hit too hard on anyone who isn't really in for the money and it could be low enough to keep around those who are while still generating considerable revenue.