You see, this meta article is getting traction. :)

It seems only articles about Medium, making money, and emotional pieces actually get any views.

While the exact parameters of the algorithm are a black box, it is actually the actions of people that drive how the algorithm behaves. And people are driven by their emotions, rather than logic. I also struggle to NOT click on some articles (rage-bait, articles on making money, etc), but end up clicking anyways. This further screws up the algorithm.

Exceptionally I will do a shameless plug for one of my articles I did on this, since it adds to the conversation on the subject:

https://medium.com/illumination/why-am-i-being-persecuted-by-the-all-mighty-algorithm-b4840bfd2236

There, I explain my thoughts on why certain writers are popular and why the algorithm tends to push certain stories.