Didn't know about this one - but it made me laugh... I mean for real?!? Jokes aside, even in my two measly months on Medium, I identified some of the things you listed and thought about it too. My conclusion, for now, is that, at least in part, it is the nature of the platform that 'drives' some of those behaviours. To make 'some clout' - meaning some dough, numbers are critical... but human mind's ability to read, let alone engage (meaningfully) with hundreds, even thousands, pieces of written work on daily or even weekly basis remains limited. The results are as you described. Just my two cents worth!