Good question!

I will start by saying this issue is all relative. For a short time, I lived with a fellow whose goal in life was to have sex with as many women as possible. Everything else revolved around that goal. Here is my story of him:

https://davevolek.medium.com/promiscuity-politics-d2fc46fb5052

This fellow did not move the world forward in any way. Posting articles on positive change on echo chambers is more beneficial than whatever he was doing.

During the 2020 election cycle, many Medium writers were urging other writers to vote for Joe Biden. However very few of these articles would find their way to conservative eyes. And the few conservative eyes that did see theme probably would not change minds. Writing and posting articles would not bring results. Instead, I admonished Medium writers to get out and canvass during the election campaign. A good canvasser could bring 100 more votes!

https://medium.com/politically-speaking/do-you-really-want-to-get-rid-of-mr-trump-66249d30eb9a

One of the Atlantic articles was about left-wingers disgusing themselves as right-wingers and participating in right-wing chat groups. The goal was to subtly challenge members of the Trump base as to why they were in the Trump base. These mascaraders used all sorts of tricks to remain on these forums, yet put "bugs in people's ears" to get them thinking differently. I would say these "fighters" have more effect in moving the world forward than writing articles for Medium.

Scott Tarlo, owener of Politically Speaking, believes that his forum is more about catharsis than influence. By writing and participating, many people feel better because they have been allowed to get their perspectives "out there," because their real world really doesn't want to hear them. I have experienced a cathartic effect on most of my articles. I'm happy I wrote them and published them, but my 20 reads per article are not changing much.