Ahh, so that’s why Medium very confusingly says in their Help files “Now, whenever you see yellow in the charts, you will know that this will contribute to earnings for your member-only stories. ”

Though responses to comments on other people’s stories contributing to earnings? The help page doesn’t say that.

Scenario 5: Member view, read, and some engagementsSame as above, but in addition to being read, they also give the story 10 claps, highlight 2 sentences, and leave a response. For a given reader, it doesn’t matter how many claps, highlights, or response they give, but each will increase earnings for the story the first time they happen.