Member-only story
Whence the Claps?
A further dive into the Medium paywall
It’s always nice when someone working behind the scenes allows a peek behind curtain. A Medium support agent did that for me over the weekend.
I previously presented some musings on the impossibility of figuring Medium Partner Program earnings. Therein I demonstrated how the four aspects of “engagement” — page views, reads, fans (claps), and responses — could not reliably be used to estimate a story’s earnings.
Medium’s Compensation Black Hole
Is it fair that authors don’t know how they’re being paid?
medium.com
That was before this little revelation provided by said support agent.
It’s (Almost) All About The Claps
In the main, my previous analysis still stands, but I was wrong about “engagement.” I discovered this when I asked Medium to explain a curious discrepancy between two of my stories. Let’s call them Story A and Story B. Their stats are as follows:
- Story A has 2.1K views and a 42% read ratio. It is regularly viewed and read, yet it has only earned $1 over its lifetime. For a recent week, it earned $0 although it was viewed every day that week.
