Hi Beth, this is true, Medium stats are not real time. Best to check after 24 hours.

I interpreteded Yana's post as a "clap and runner" who is a fake engager—they pretend but did not read your story. Medium does not reward any writer for a clap and run—it demotes your page rank and treats a quick exit as non-interest. This signals to the algo that there was no interest (called a bounce) and Medium in turn does not promote or suggest your story. Fake engagement skews results and it hurts the writer.