I’m Not Sure About This New Clap Thing
I recently noticed the change from ‘recommends’ to ‘claps’ on Medium. I’m not sure what to think of it yet. I have been a contributor and consumer of content on Medium for a while now. I have really enjoyed my experience so far. What I like about Medium is there is a such a wide range of perspectives and ideas that I have access to. I love reading from people I am inclined to agree with and I also enjoy reading those I may not be inclined to agree with. Most of the time I know what I am getting into and there is no overarching agenda that I have to sift through. I like that because the content is not all slanted one way or the other. I get to inform and educate myself without the mistrust that I am given a singular overriding perspective.
I sort of understood the move to the ‘members only’ kind of thing. In order for things to persist there must be some level of financial sustenance. Now that we have moved to the ‘clapping’ I am starting to worry what I appreciate about Medium could get lost or muddied. Let’s say a certain post in the ‘recommending days’ was read by two people. They both liked it and both gave it a “Recommend.” Both readers are free to share the post, tweet about it, highlight, comment, etc. In my opinion the single “Recommend” was a way to limit the bias to a certain extent.
Now with “Claps” the same two readers can respond very differently. One reader may just give it a single clap, while another could give it 50 claps. As a writer I would rather have 51 single recommends than 51 claps. As a reader I trust more how many people would recommend something than how much specific readers liked it. It appears like there could be some skewing or influencing of results introduced. I researched it a little and it looks like the number of claps is not seen by readers. Which prevents one well known reader/contributor from influencing others to ‘over clap’ something. This is good, but it does not prevent a ‘community’ of users from overly self supporting. This isn’t a negative thing on it’s own. I do wonder if it could be opening the door to losing the objectivity that I like most about the Medium platform.
I am very curious to see how this plays out and will continue to use the platform for the foreseeable future. I hope it will be sustained for a very long time, objectivity and all.
