It's a novel approach; I'll be interested to see how it works out.

I enjoy responding to comments--well, most of them--but it is time-consuming after a viral story. Still, the personal interactions have led to some actual friendships with a few of my readers.

I wish Medium would do more to facilitate responding. It's a pain to try to scroll to the bottom of 100 comments and try to make sure you haven't missed any. And lately I find my notifications don't always load.

I also believe Medium should include commenting time--which I think adds considerable value to a story--in the "member reading time" that determines our payment.

Just my $0.02.