Medium | Clap | Appreciation

When you Want to Clap Once, Don't do It. Do this instead…

Funny story

The medium clap tool.

At first, I thought it was similar to the like button on other social media channels.

When I have an emotional reaction to an article, I could like it. In the early days of the internet, it was the only option.

Showing reactions were only one-sided — show appreciation.

I believe that the world needs more kindness; that is why I love this approach. Instead of throwing hatred around, emphasize things you like and leave the other uncommented.

But social media moved on, and I believe the haunted "Facebook" was the first that implemented the option to show a wider variety of emotions to express yourself.

How reactions changed the online world

Whether it is good or bad, everyone should decide for themselves. The fact is, Facebook changed the game in February 2016.

And maybe it contributed a bit to the turmoil of recent years on social media. Who knows.

The habit of throwing overwhelming emotions out into the open social media world like anger, negative laughter, and emphasizing that with hate speech in the comments is nothing I consider bringing value to the world.

I enjoy the Asian culture where people get the proper training to resolve their emotional issues without involving the entire world. When leaving the house, be kind and friendly to other people.

I consider this the right approach to ensure a peaceful and happy social environment — also on social media.

When you think about it — just like Ryan Holiday expressed in his book — The daily stoic:

“The next time you find yourself in the middle of a freakout, or moaning and groaning with flulike symptoms, or crying tears of regret, just ask:

Is this actually making me feel better?

Is this actually relieving any of the symptoms I wish were gone?”

The answer is always the same.

Throwing hatred around only gives big hits on personal relationships. Cooling off before addressing points is a better strategy to keep good relationships.

Nobody can take back words once they have left the mouth in the heat of a moment, so think twice — also on social media. There is no point in expressing negative emotions online.

Did Medium get it right?

We are all humans and have the same flaws.

At first, I thought Medium made a better choice with clapping and commenting only, without offering the Angry, Sad, or negatively laughing about a thing choice — like the animal called meta and formerly known as Facebook.

Claps — when you like something clap.

At first, I thought it was like a like button, and you can only clap once, which is what I did.

One day a writer sent me a mail in which he encouraged me to clap more than once as Medium allows up to 50 claps.

It is like applauding in a theater; the more you clap, the more appreciation you express.

How much do you like an article on a scale from 1 to 50?

50 — extremely overwhelmingly absolutely mucho and many more and 3 days

1 — I like it. Like in the old days of Facebook.

Well, and then I remembered the old story from school…

When you clap, don't clap only once, do a minimum of 10 instead, because…

Growing up as kids in the Austrian countryside was a thing to live through. Political correctness or wokeism that tells everybody what can and cannot be said didn't exist.

Insulting friends and other close people were more the norms than the exception, and in a way, it helped to toughen up or break early.

One of those practices was the following:

Kids like to talk, and kids like to entertain. Today adults encourage kids anyways, no matter what they think about how talented their kids are when they see the passion in kids' eyes.

Encourage kids to move forward on a passionate path towards mastery — one step at a time. Nobody was born as a master — consistent practice creates mastery.

Back then, amongst kids and adults, it was a bit different. A lot different.

It was like the real-life version of Facebook's full range of showing emotions.

Whenever a kid wanted to share knowledge or make a joke, and it didn’t work, the kid got a special kind of attention.

Of course, it was applauding, as I see on Medium. But in essence, it was an extraordinary kind of applause.

The great jokes and stories got standing ovations that never ended to ensure that the encouragement sits and creates lasting memories.

As you know, mastery comes from practice, and initially, everybody is a novice who needs training and failure to get better.

Whenever a novice made a joke that didn’t work out well or got lost in storytelling, they received special applause.

It was:

1 clap

A group of people counted the clap in, and one commented:

Well, this deserves small applause. And the group gave

1 clap together

You can imagine that it was kinda fun for the group, but harsh criticism for the one person exposed in front of a larger group of people.

… do this instead…

Social media is a great thing. Everybody who is bold and courageous enough to express their feelings and thoughts online deserves a bit more respect in my eyes.

I know it is tempting to give in the first rush of emotions when reading something online that isn't a great piece of content.

But:

On the other side of the screen is a human being who delivered what is their best work currently right in the moment of publishing it.

Could they do better, they would. At the moment, it is the best they could deliver and much needed on the road to mastery.

My advice to myself is, don’t post anything negative on social media — at least work on it to master this skill.

Whenever you feel you want to write something negative:

Don’t do it

It just hurts other people.

Whenever you feel that you want to show appreciation

• Like
• Comment and
• Share

And in the case of Medium Claps:

• Don't clap once, as it might be as insulting as writing something negative
• Clap a minimum of 10 times; ideally 50 — go all the length and
• Ideally, leave a short comment like "Amazing” or “ Thanks for sharing your thoughts."

It is a better choice IMO.

Did you enjoy the content? Then you can do the following:

• Clap a couple of times and leave a comment.
• Check out my other profiles,
• Sign up for my deep tech newsletter,
• Subscribe to my medium profile for frequent updates,
• Sign up to Medium to support the writer’s community.

This article is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice. Consult a financial, investment, or legal professional before making significant decisions.