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Medium Earnings
How Do Claps Work on Medium?
A look at the (limited) published info by Medium on applause and how they impact earnings
One of the most confusing aspects of the Medium Partner Program is the role of applause and how exactly each clap affects a writer’s earnings. At times, the clapping system can feel like a black box. This is largely because earnings from the Medium Partner Program are a black box — a device, system or object which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs, without any knowledge of its internal workings.
Regardless, like any algorithm, it is hard not to try to reverse engineer it. Some of the most common questions I receive from people considering publishing on Medium are:
“How much money will I earn writing articles on Medium” and “How much is each clap worth?”
I’ve addressed the first question in a previous article, and will attempt to address the second in this one.
What is Clapping?
Clapping is a way readers can show appreciation for a Medium story and recommend it to their followers. The more you like something, the more you can clap. You can clap up to 50 times per post, and you can clap for as many posts as you want. Clapping plays a role in…
