Thanks for writing this, Michele. I've also puzzled over the claps v reads/the time spent reading & the stats--after a while my eyes glaze over. It would be helpful to have some sort of explanation. I have never commented without reading an entire story--sometimes, I've started reading a piece then, knowing I won't have time to finish it and comment, saved it to read later. The responses from readers who have read then left a thoughtful comment, really are one of the things I enjoy most about Medium.