Yes I find this quite bewildering too. I think some readers are not aware that they clap up to fifty claps at a time. It also depends on the publications as I've found the readers of some pubs to be extremely generous with their claps. Then again there are your followers/loyal audience who would want to give a good number of claps.

I'm not sure whether this answers your question but hope it helps :)

Btw I gave this one the max claps ;)