I have no idea.

Early on, when they went from rewarding writers solely on the basis on how many claps a story received to rewarding writers solely on the basis of how long readers spent reading their work, they assured us that they had ways of telling whether we were actually reading a piece or for instance leaving it open on the computer and heading off for a bathroom break.

It was suggested that they based this knowledge on whether we were scrolling or whether the story was just sitting there.

But of course nobody actually knows how this place works.

Except perhaps Mr. Stubblebine and he's not telling.