Nice rant, but you left out my personal favorite.

I understand if a person finishes an article, disagrees with the premise and doesn’t clap.

I can understand if a person finishes an article and disagrees so vehemently they write a negative response, and don’t clap.

What I can’t understand is the person who finishes an article, highlights it, and then doesn’t clap.

I think the single clap is a sign of ignorance by new members, but an insult when given by someone you know well.

There should be a Medium support page that outlines civil behavior when it comes to clapping, so there is a more uniform response.

AS Mark Starlin pointed out, when you get a curated article, writers tend to get more veiws and reads, but a low number of claps. I can attest to that phenomenon when my last curated article included 6 new fans who clapped at total of 8 times. (Thanks to the gentleman who clapped a mighty 3 times — you really raised the average of those newbies!)