Making Medium Claps Great Again
I love how Medium is eschewing advertising but Medium Staff should mimick what Periscope is doing & allow premium members & non-members to donate directly to the publication/author.
Just as super hearts is a great way for fans to support Periscope broadcasters, allowing Medium readers to directly support publishers they love via super claps would be a more effective (& transparent) way of giving financial support.
But since super claps sounds dumb (unless you are Superman of course), I suggest we call these monetary hat tips whistles.
Image Credit: BlueBudgie
Whistle‽ Say What‽
When an audience shows appreciation for a play, movie, concert, et al, they clap.
However, if an individual wants to display enthusiastic support they whistle (note: I can not whistle so I hoot – but hooting sounds juvenile so no love for me).
Similar to Periscope, readers could purchase whistling packages via in-app purchasing on iOS, Android & desktop (latter via Stripe).
As an added bonus, every time a reader taps/clicks on the whistle button a whistle sound is made (note: some folks hate noise so making the sound optional is recommended).
Obviously Medium will have to figure out the UI & UX for an extra button on the screen (which is not my area of expertise).
In Conclusion…
Hopefully Medium will consider a direct way for readers (both members & non-members) to help great writers to not only put food on the table but also help separate the platform from rivals (like WordPress & Tumblr).
