This very good and astute piece just hit my feed today and I have been on medium since September or earlier (I forget). My membership says December because that's when I changed my payment card--another Medium stupidity. Anyway, I proposed this over haul to the clap system several months ago. Make the scale 1–100, or 1–10. Make the rater anonymous unless they want to be identified. Each piece should have two scores à la Rotten Tomatoes. The average score from writers and the average score from readers. There should be a third score uniquely relative to the viewer — “rating by people you follow.” Lastly, people should have the option of receiving a notification whenever someone they follow gives a story certain ratings. https://medium.com/loud-updates/mediums-clap-system-amounts-to-a-vermiform-appendix-7587edb85a0a