Medium actually for the first bonuses used a different metric that also rewarded newer writers with very few reads but high quality engagement. But then that was a complicated formula they used and didnt care to disclose the forensics of it which is fair. Everyone cries foul and they went to the simple way of earnings which are based on higheat read times..So we all made them do this. I wrote abt it but didnt want this to be a plug to a story but it is somewhere on my profile from a week oe two ago.