Medium Clap Policy
I was confused about the clap process on Medium when I first started blogging, so I clapped once if I liked a story. I later thought of creating a clap scale. It’s now way down on my list of writing projects. But, I did want to put my two cents in about why I almost always now give 50 claps.
Imagine you were given fifty dollars for every story you read on Medium. I like to dream big! The catch is you couldn’t spend it on yourself or your family. In fact, you could only spend it on writers on Medium! Yeah, that’s me looking out for my peeps.
Whatever you didn’t spend disappeared at the end of the day. Would you only give each story one dollar or maybe ten? No, I would give them the max!
I know. If you give everyone fifty claps that’s basically the same as one clap. But, fifty claps is what we have to give for every story, so why not share the love?!
If I was running the show, like Tony Stubblebine, I would do away with claps and just have a like or love button, and an up or down vote button. It seems to work on several social media sites. Who cares if it’s a copycat move? It works!
“If you copy from one author, it’s plagiarism, but if you copy from many, it’s research.” ― Wilson Mizner
I have yet to understand the purpose of the fifty claps. From what I gather, it’s left over from the days when claps contributed toward the partner program.
But, as long as it’s here, I will generously share my fifty claps per story. If it’s a story I don’t like, I will quietly move along.
Here is a link to the official Medium Clap Policy:
“You can clap up to 50 times per post or list, and you can use it to show the author how much you liked the story or list.”
