I Give 50 Claps to Every Story I Read and Comment That I Get

Unless the writer is mean or an a-hole

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

I am an all-or-nothing type of person.

I either love something or hate something. I think that something is either right or wrong. I find very little in my life to be in the murky middle ground.

This part of my personality has even carried over into my clapping patterns on this platform.

Either I feel that the writer of a story or comment that I read tried, or they didn’t. If I think they tried hard to write a good story or comment, they get 50 claps.

But if they are mean or an asshole, I move on. I leave zero claps as if our paths had never crossed.

I don’t play a mind game where I give one clap or three claps. I don’t leave negative comments. I move on.

I would look like quite a pathetic individual if I clapped only once or left a rude or critical remark, don’t you think?

I mean, I’m no expert at writing, so who am I to be critical? I’m not Stephen effing King, you know.

Judgment is not for me. So, I shut my mouth and move on. I’m a ghost.

I have read that the algorithm will “punish” me for giving 50 claps to so many writers. Supposedly, the algorithm will pick up on my pattern and teach me a lesson somehow.

Let me tell you two things about that theory.

First, I’m not going to live my life in fear of an algorithm. I don’t care if it “punishes” me.

And second, I don’t really understand what an algorithm is anyway, so that adds to my feeling of invincibility against it. See, sometimes ignorance can be a good thing.

So, give 50 claps or don’t clap at all; reward an effort made wholeheartedly.

Be nice or shut your damn mouth.

And don’t be mean or an asshole.

Remember these three things: treat others as you would like to be treated; what goes around comes around; be kind because you never know what a person could be going through in their life.

Linda Kowalchek is a work in progress and a member of the typewriter generation. She…