My Views About Claps on Medium

Medium writers have different views on claps. Here are my thoughts.

3 min readApr 21, 2022

A lot of Medium members love receiving claps on their stories because it affects their stats. Also, it makes them feel good. However, there are also writers (myself, included) who prefer claps only if people read their stories and genuinely like them. In the first section, you will learn two reasons I take claps seriously. In the second section, you will learn about engagement etiquette for writers with similar views.

1. Sincere claps help me trust my readers.

When you like an article, it makes a person’s day. Again, I love it when people clap for my writing…if it’s genuine! On Medium, it is obvious when these people don’t read articles because it shows up in the stats. Also, some people like long articles half a second after they are published. The average person cannot read a 1,000-word story in that amount of time. So please, be honest.

2. Authentic claps will help me improve my writing and serve my target audience.

I’m a huge believer in writing about passions. But for writers who strive to educate people about certain subjects, positive reactions help us gauge the best topics to write about. For instance, I enjoy writing about mental health, relationships, writing tips, and fiction. My writing has attracted many people, but I’m sure that some articles were not that great.

If readers clap for articles they do not really like, I will keep writing about similar issues without keeping my readers engaged. However, if they clap for stories they have read and do like, I get a better idea about how to reach my audience. This is not about getting millions of followers or constant attention; it’s about giving my readers valuable information.

Now that you know two reasons I do not like inauthentic claps, let’s look at clap and engagement etiquette. This section focuses on myself and writers with similar views.