I don’t care if “what happens next will surprise you!” or if “#7 with blow your mind!” or “then the cutest thing ever happened!”
I do care if your article, post, video, vlog, or the like has (1) quality content that I can trust, (2) is delivered to me in a simple medium, and (3) I get some enjoyment out of the information delivered to me.
The backlash of the clickbait (or is it click-bait?) drama seems to be gaining speed and size, and I’m glad it is. I love how The Onion has used its site ClickHole to parody websites like Upworthy, The Daily Dot, and Buzzfeed for their shameless headlines and taglines geared primarily to feeding the online advertising revenue tallies behind the scenes of the poor and often inaccurate delivery of news, stories and information.
TOP STORIES:
Infants On Plane: Twins’ Parents Offer Candy, No Apology
GUIDE: Are You Allowed To Bring Alcohol On A Plane?
GUIDE: Are You Allowed To Smoke E-Cigarettes On A Plane?
How To Save 82% Off Baby Formula (And More)
7 Reasons To Get Global Entry (Instead of TSA PreCheck)!
For the past year or so, I have come to expect the click baiting to continue from such “entertainment” sources. But a newer trend is giving me more true concern.
More reputable websites and blogs seem to be giving in to the temptation to clickbait. Take the example of the widely popular “I f*cking love science” (IFLS) Facebook page and blog which quickly rose to fame as a widely entertaining and, I will assert, authoritative source on a variety of scientific topics often transmitted to us common folks in language and methodology that we can understand. Nice to have you around, IFLS! Welcome!
But fans began to be discouraged and downright upset at the trending headline changes to IFLS posts. As one author put it — “Love science, or love clickbait?” The article by A Science Enthusiast points out how the brand has evolved in the wrong way. He argues:
I f*cking love science started as an excellent opportunity to increase science literacy for the layperson; however, it has now regressed into a terrible example of science communication.
The IFLS pile-on began with this article: Pop Sci to Pop Sigh: I F*cking Love Science Ex-Admins Speak Out This is where my concern lies. When quality sources start to degrade their value and reputation due to the turnoff of click baiting.
Then, just this morning, I witnessed the most outrageous example of click baiting I have seen to date. As a new parent, I have been on the lookout for quality sources of parenting knowledge and “fun” tips in raising my infant twin girls. I recently started following the Facebook page “quirkymomma.com” as with 1.5M likes, it must be doing something right!
I noticed a couple clever art project ideas in my Facebook feed. Okay.
Then I noticed a couple clickbait headlines with taglines. Well, that’s a turnoff.
Then, I saw this post in my feed (click photo to enlarge):
Are they seriously click baiting a story about what is a truly important topic of educating others on Shaken Baby Syndrome!? They are actually tiptoeing around the “TERRIFYING Mistake!” the father made with an added photo of the poor child (who has recovered and is doing great now years later) to get you to mentally ask, “OMG! What happened to that poor child!?” Or do you give them somewhat of a pass because the ends (an important educational story) justifies the means (click baiting at all costs)?
The link in the post provided was “source identifiable” and I assume there is an underlying financial purpose to the Facebook poster adding even MORE clickbait to the already inappropriate headline and tagline of the original story. And this comes from a Facebook page with a website self described as providing kids crafts!? Their “about” section reads:
Never hear “I am bored!” again. We share 100s of ways to play with things you have in your kitchen junk drawer. Kids Activities Blog is all about fun things to do with kids that are easy, fun, have a learning element and can be done with stuff you already have at home.
I’ve had it! I’m going to forgo seeing the cute kittens and amazing pictures by NOT taking your bait if it means bringing back quality information and supporting knowledge.
If you are reading this and you deliver a quality product through content, stay honest with your readers, subscribers and fans. Think twice about degrading your headlines and taglines with bait in hopes of gaining financially. I know, I know… it is the marketable way to higher revenues. But at what cost? The consumers, i.e. the readers, have spoken.
Please, stop with the click baiting already. Keep the power of knowledge healthy and alert. Thank you for listening.
/rant
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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.
Thanks for writing this! It’s really sad. I read The Register, a tech blog, and it KILLS me inside that they’ve started experimenting with this time-wasting garbage. I really love their content and their headlines USED TO BE hilarious as well as informative, but now… *sigh*. FWIW, I’m pretty sure this is “the Facebook effect” on news. For news to spread on Facebook, and therefore make money, it has to be 1) positive and 2) frequently clicked on. Since Facebook now makes up 30%+ of “news” traffic these days, “news” organizations are really beholden to the company’s algorithms. I assume… Read more »
I enjoy reading your blog although this is my first time posting.
In all candor, however, I must ask you to keep an eye out for some of the Headlines that some of your bloggers use here on Boarding Area.
Some are downright shameless.
But not Charlie’s blog, he is a straight shooter.
Now, Points, Miles & Martinis, that is a whole ‘nother situation, entirely…………………..
Oh, I thought this was going to be a good critique of a few boarding bloggers. Pity.
Me too. But it is more than just a few of the travel bloggers resorting to this trashy method of “journalism”.
Can’t expect that after he pulled my initial post naming some of his blogger colleagues that were prime offenders……
Never pulled any post/comment. They weren’t reviewed and approved by me yet. (I have twin infants and 5 jobs that keep me pretty busy outside of this hobby).
I trash spam comments.
Well, as you can see, my initial post dated above the one that you replied to, has now appeared — blame those who vet your comments as I never would have needed to post the above reply if my original had passed the censors.
As for your domestic situation, congrats to you!
Thanks for the congrats and the comments. I truly welcome all comments — good, bad and ugly — as I greatly appreciate the feedback and I read ALL comments. Just to clarify, I meant that I am the sole censor and filter of all my comments, which must be approved, marked as spam, or trashed once submitted (previously approved posters seem to be auto-approved at times though). I try to expedite approval of comments, but I hadn’t gotten to your first comment before you had posted your second one is all. Hope that better explains the process, as I just… Read more »
but you’ll never believe what she did!
Good post! It can be very annoying. I follow a lot of tech blogs and the absolute worst is BGR. Big on clickbaits and small on substance, for the most part.
I can tell you, it can be a battle with titling! That is the hardest part of a post for me. I want to be descriptive but not have an excerpt as the title either. The good part is that readers often help me to stay on the right path. 🙂