Have Mercy On the People Who Don’t Give 50 Claps…

It may not be their fault. 😔😥

As one who has given speeches and performances on the stage, I can say without shame applause (clapping) is validation. Likewise, a standing ovation is adoration.

Clapping is a transaction between the audience and the speaker or performer. Applause and clapping are how the audience engages and communicates enjoyment, acceptance, and encouragement.

Here on Medium, at one time, claps were a metric for earnings. Now, Claps are an Engagement Metric and Member’s Read Time is an earnings metric. The more folks clapping (fans) the more your story is circulated among Medium's various feeds.

Claps Encourage in More Ways Than One

But do the number of claps really matter? I’d say yes. It matters for encouragement. And I don’t mean just encouragement for the writer and content creator.

Clapping encourages others to read and engage. Medium Members who have been on the platform for a while are inherently encouraged to click on a story that has 1.2K claps versus a story that has only 8 claps or no claps.

Yes, I could write a thesis on why we should make an effort to give 50 claps on stories written by Medium writers. However, there’s a problem.