When I started I’m Medium, Roz, back in 2015, it was a clap/no-clap binary. (But you could also clap for your own stuff! Actually you had to, or no one who followed you saw it. Wait, wtf?!) Then multiple claps, and claps determined payments. (Only not for me; I don’t need the money, I REALLY don’t need the disappointment, and my Medium peeps who DO need the money get more — in theory — if I sit it out. Moral smugness is worth a lot more than $2.87/month!) Now “reader engagement” determines pay, and claps… are apparently old code that hasn’t been cleaned up yet. Fine. So yes, 50 claps for stories and 5/10/15 claps for responses — and the occasional single clap, signifying “uh-huh” or “mmmmm-kay” as appropriate.