[I still care]

The ones on either side of her are clapping off the beat.

They’d better watch it.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Their purpose is to clap like mad. Don't have to be in perfect sync. Of course, I know your comment is a form of sarcasm.:-) Anyhow, if you see communist mass conference, you can discern pecking order by the way they clap. Those in lower ranks clap like crazy. Those in upper position clap gently. The guy on the top is barely clapping.

If you watch old archive footage of Stalin, you can tell it easily. In his case, it is rather extreme. Everybody below him, regardless of ranks, clapped like crazy. Especially ones on each side of him.:-)