Medium.com Should Monetize Response Claps From Members, Don’t You Agree?
Monetized Comments Would Be a Curiosity Detonator — And Increase User Involvement
Why aren’t comments already monetized? Like articles, they are published, get their own unique URL and comment/ responses are tracked statistically.
If Medium wants to build a more engaged community, it should employ a clap-based monetization policy for member comments.
Wouldn’t a monetized response claps encourage everyone to read each other’s work and respond thoughtfully? Like this gem:
Option #1 Clap-Based Monetization Of Comments
The first option Medium.com should consider is a clap-based monetization system. This algorithm would operate similar to the previous monetization system Medium.com used for monetizing stories.
This is a simple, merit-based premise.
- A Medium.com member claps for another member’s response.
- The response writer receives a fraction of the clapper’s $5 monthly membership.
Option #2 Split Clap-Based Monetization 50/50 Between Author And Commentor
Perhaps it would be fair to split the response-writer’s clap-income with the author of the article? Say 50/50?
Has anyone else watched a comment become more successful than one of their stories? This actually happened to me the other day.
Here’s my overall stats:
My daily readership is somewhat steady, but hey —look at today! Seeing a little spike! I admit my heart was aflutter.
Afterall, Medium.com stated the reason they were changing the monetization policy from claps, to time spent reading, was to encourage more long-form writing.
Immediately I thought to myself, “Maybe that 37 minute magnum opus I wrote about “Why Field of Dreams Makes Grown Men Cry and How The Chicago Black Sox Saved Baseball” is finally gaining traction!?”
Yeah no. Instead, my statistical spike in readership (and fans) was entirely thanks to a comment I made on someone else’s article.
After 24 hours, as shown below, my comment was still going strong — and responsible for a vast percentage of my overall readership.
So that was bittersweet.
The Comment That Started It All?
Perhaps you’re wondering what gem of a comment I made that opened such a pandora’s box of excitement in my life?
Markham Heid wrote:
“Depressed people have low vagal activity, and this is associated with less intonation and less-active facial expression.”
I wrote:
“Could also be a correlation here to ‘the Smile Study’ which found that the mechanical act of smiling alone produces improved mood?”
Boom! Right?
Anyway, here’s a link to the Markham Heid article:
And here is a link to the unique URL of my comment.
Question: Why Do Comments Need Their Own URL Unless Its To Make Them A Monetizable Occurrence?
Medium.com is a second generation social network.
That means it’s a 2.0 refinement where content producers are paid for their work, and patrons are informed what their time investment will be before reading an article.
We all love Medium.com, but just imagine if we were also getting a few nickles for our witty-yet-wise, comments?
If Medium wishes to see this platform take full bloom, it will monetize response claps from members.
Thanks for reading, check out my other articles, and by all means… leave a clap-worthy response. ;)
