Understanding the Clap-and-Runner Phenomenon

On a typical day on Medium, I found myself juggling various tasks and appointments, which left me with a brief window to browse through some articles shared by my friends.

I started by visiting a friend's profile, giving a clap to their latest piece, and then diving into it completely. Following that, I repeated the process for a second article from the same author, and then a third, before wrapping up my reading session.

However, just as I was about to exit their profile, I noticed that all my claps had vanished. I assumed it was just a glitch, so naturally, I clapped again on each of the three articles to ensure my friend wasn’t deprived of their deserved recognition.

After reclapping, it struck me that I might come off as a clap-and-runner if the system registered my claps twice. Oh no! Yet, I reassured myself that my friends would understand my intentions. I decided to brush it off and continued with my busy day.

Later on, when I returned to Medium, I came across several articles with titles like "Someone clapped 92 times on my article" and "Is it possible to clap 150 times?" These weren’t from my friends, but rather from random users, and they appeared in my feed without warning.

It turned out that the clapping glitch was a widespread issue across the platform, and I had a hunch about its origin based on my own experience.

As many of you may have noticed, the Medium mobile app now features two clap buttons. One is visible on the profile page:

And the other is located within the article itself:

The external clap button is also present on the website version, located further down the page beneath articles:

Many users, including myself, have come to the conclusion that this external clap button merely facilitates clap-and-runners, allowing them to clap without even reading the articles. Some, like my friend TzeLin Sam, have pointed out that it can be tapped accidentally while scrolling through profiles.

In my case, I experienced another issue: sometimes when I clapped using one button, the other would remain unclapped. So, if you’re like me, you may find yourself clapping again, risking the appearance of being a clap-and-runner.

This could be the reason behind the reported glitches of 92 or 150 claps.

Regardless, the external clap button seems unnecessary and only complicates the clapping experience.

In the words of a whiny child, "Me no like it!" What are your thoughts on this additional clap button?

Chapter 2: Exploring the Clapping Glitch

In this video, titled "The Jumpers Clap! Why they do it and How it Started!", we dive into the phenomenon of clapping on Medium and the social dynamics surrounding it.

This video, "Player Gets Ejected For Clapping," offers a comedic take on the unintended consequences of clapping in various contexts.