I suspect there's a disconnect between how many readers view the clapping option, and how the algorithm views it--and that's especially so for the older viewers. The younger ones think like the ranking algorithm, as it were, since they're steeped in social media. The older viewers see this parasocial stuff as cheesy, tacky, fake, etc. But presumably, the algorithm doesn't take generational differences into account. Either an article receives applause or it doesn't, and if it doesn't it's not promoted, which hurts the author financially. So the elite sensibilities of the older crowd backfire or have unintended consequences for authors who write relatively high-brow content (like me).