Well, I'm cynical about parasocial clapping, but I'd like for my writing to reach as many readers as possible, and clapping apparently helps with that. So it's a bit of a toss-up.

I think it makes sense to clap for anything you've taken the time on some platform to read or to watch, knowing that clapping helps out the content creator. But this article is meant to explain why the clapping function isn't meritocratic on these platforms.