Member-only story
Why I Clap 50 Times
Even for One Clap Articles
The other day I read an article on Medium by a writer who decidedly gives every single article one clap, even when they deem it worthy of more. They didn’t give their reasoning, but rather gave permission for others to do the same. Their article intrigued me. As someone who almost always gives writers 50 claps, I wanted to understand what motivated another writer to discourage multiple claps.
I will always remember the first time I got 50 claps. I was brand new to the Medium platform and still learning my way around. I had published an article late at night and went to bed with the lucky number 3 next to my hands icon. The following morning, I hopped online to check if my article had been curated. To my great surprise, my trusty little 3 had become 53. I felt an instant jolt of exhilaration as my heart skipped a beat and my eyes widened, much like the moment the caffeine in your morning brew hits your bloodstream. Who were these 50 individuals who’d applauded my work as I slumbered? A smile formed on my lips as I excitedly clicked the hands icon to reveal the dozens of clappers who appeared in the middle of the night. To my great surprise, there was merely 1 additional clapper, a dear Facebook friend. Yet next to her name was a whooping 50 instead of 1. I had no idea someone could clap more than once, let alone 50 times. My smile widened…
