Have you had a chance to watch this video from the 2023 Medium Day? https://youtu.be/i8q2uwpqZ9o?si=RaetMkZF5GwTpshv It's still relevant. A few minutes into the video Buster explains the engagement aspects of the Partner Program. Everything hinges on reads, and it's the first engagement-point. Everything else only contributes as an engagement point. I don't like speculating, but the difference between a story with lots of comments and lots of claps vs a story with less of them in terms of $$$ at the end of the day is nearly negligible because the modifiers like Boost, follower bonus and member read ratio are the ones that truly have the impact on the number, and let's not forget, based on who the that reader is, that number varies wildly. It's a very interesting video. Even if you saw it before, it's worth rewatching. Tweaks have been made since of course, but the bottom line is still that reading itself is already engagement so clapping and commenting for the sake of it, doesn't do as much as some think.