Why Claps Come in Weird Numbers
I’ve always wondered why people clap in weird numbers.
I’m a PC user. I spend most of my time in front of mine in my home office, and all my browsing happens in a Chrome browser — sometimes in Edge. Naturally, I use a mouse for navigation. I’m not that nerdy to browse with just the keyboard in a terminal-based browser.
So, when I clap for someone on Medium, I use my trusty mouse. I position it on those tiny clapping hands and give one, five, seven, or fifty claps depending on how much the post resonated with me.
But here’s the thing: when others clap for my posts or replies, I often see strange numbers. I get claps like 19, 31, 24, or 18. Of course, I receive normal and round numbers, too, but those odd ones always make me wonder — why?
One day, while using the Medium mobile app, I clapped for some stories with ones and sevens like usual. Then, one particular story really caught my attention. I read it thoroughly and started my fifty-clap standing ovation.
Suddenly, the app kicked me back to the homepage.
I returned to the story and saw my claps had stopped at 19. Weird coincidence? I decided to continue clapping, and it happened again.
Curious, I tested it on another story, and guess what? The same thing happened, or something close to it.
As you can see in the GIF above, when I clap too fast, I miss the clap button and accidentally tap on the number of claps instead. This takes me to the list of people who clapped, and here’s where things get tricky: the home button on that page takes the exact position of the clapping hands from the story view.
You know what happens next — accidental homepage exit. Mystery solved!
That’s why claps come in those weird numbers. The app’s design leads to accidental interruptions, leaving us with unfinished claps and odd results.
