Moving from ❤️️❤️️❤️️ to 👏👏👏 . What’s next? Maybe…

It all started with a 👍 on Facebook, a ⭐️ on Twitter, and a 👋 swipe on Tinder.

It seems a lot of people have an opinion on Medium’s move from recommendations (or ❤️️s) to claps (or 👏). Like all things new, some users are upsets, some others are happy.

According to Ev Williams: “This system (or something like it) is critical for our new approach to paying people based on the quality of their writing.” He adds: “We’re trying to fight the dark forces of advertising that are destroying our minds and democracy.”

I agree when Ev says “Claps may look silly,” but silly can be good. It can be a first step towards the future of paid online content… Or not.

While I don’t have an opinion on claps vs hearts/recommendations, I believe experimenting is key if we want to reshape the industry with a focus on content and content producers rather than mere advertisers; from page views to page enjoyment; from quantity to quality.

So far I enjoyed observing how many of my readers were clapping once as opposed to multiple times; and the new system made me more aware about whether I was clapping, and even if I was clapping once or more times.

Maybe we’re still focused too much on thumbs up and reactions on Facebook, and on hearts and likes on Twitter, and even whether we swipe left or right on Tinder and Tinder-inspired apps.

But if I compare 👍 ❤️️ 👏 vs swiping, I think the latter might make more sense. It’s a longer action; it’s less automatic than just a click; it follows a thought rather than a quick reaction.

Maybe Medium can benefit from swipes… Or maybe it can reinvent the swipe and all declinations of reactions.

In my mind a round dial would work great:

• It’s round with a finite design but infinite possibilities;
• It’s not unfamiliar;
• It can just be tapped once for a single like/recommendations;
• Or you can circle around it with your finger to increase the intensity of the like… Almost to an infinite point;
• You can run your finger around it on the screen, or on your mouse pad;
• You can run your finger clockwise of counterclockwise;
• It requires the user to think about it rather than just reacting quickly with a click or more clicks.

Just a different idea! Maybe a crazy one!

Keep experimenting Ev Williams! 👏👏👏