Cannot verify if that's still the case, but I know for a fact that when it was introduced it was done for a reason. Based on how many claps a paying member claps, their membership money gets distributed to the writers accordingly. Now, of course, this only works if people use it properly. If a member gives 50 claps to everyone, it means the same as giving 1 clap to everyone. In fairness, this all isn't well-documented, though everything else is, and people still don't read, but come up with crazy theories and then post about them just to piss me off. 🤣

As stated before, I don't have the energy to care about how many claps people give my articles. I respect 1 clap as much as I respect 50. 🙂