The “47–48–49 Rule” of Clapping.

Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash

If you’re a Medium writer, you know that clapping is fake: Everyone can clap an article between 0 and 50 times.

Now, let’s consider some facts:

1. Most readers are unaware that more than one clap is possible.
2. The readers are more likely to read an article if they see many claps.
3. Medium is a social network in which supporting your fellow writers will benefit you.

These facts have promoted hundreds of articles suggesting always to give 50 claps.

I followed this tactic until I noticed a minor flaw: Some readers might be suspicious of an article whose number of claps is 50, 100, 150, and so on.

Therefore, I propose the following algorithm:

If the article has 0 claps or a multiple of 50 claps, give it either 47, 48, or 49 claps.

Otherwise, give it the whole 50 claps.

Why are 47 and 48 valid options instead of only 49? Two reasons:

1. We can’t allow having too many articles with exactly 49 claps. That would wise up some readers.
2. Some authors clap to express approval of the writing quality. They might clap ten times instead of 50 to say…