Have you noticed that more and more you are being surrounded by less creative article titles within the news you read on all of your favorite websites? Instead, you are given titles that may or may not have anything to do with the content, and normally don’t mention what the article is about. A title with the sole purpose of leaving out just enough detail to leave you yearning to know what it is about. Clickbait has always been around, but it seems it has become quite the pandemic among news sources both amateur and professional alike recently.
Personally, I can’t bring myself to see it as a sign of professionalism, so it doesn’t exactly paint the best image for some of these outlets. I won’t exactly name them off for professional reasons, but I’m sure you have come across quite a few.
It seems there has been a popular push for using desperate measures for grabbing your attention. Not something I have ever been approached with at any establishment that I have written for, thankfully. I am used to be challenged with the task of creating an “exciting” title that helps find traffic specifically looking for the content being discussed. Nothing vague or mysterious like some of these titles going around.
The other day, I ran into a story that is a complete bait and switch. The title talks about a movie that has been “dominating” on Netflix, yet the story reflects upon a movie that has been doing quite terrible and practically being voted on for being one of the worst movies of 2021 so far. Sure, everyone is talking about it, but it is in no way “dominating”. The title gets you excited. Not because you want to read about how terrible something is. Instead, you’re excited because you might find something you want to watch tonight! Oh wait, never mind, it’s terrible. Well, that was a wasted click.
So this is my message to the internet. Enough with the clickbait. It leaves a sour taste in the mouths of many. Why drive traffic through desperate means that might earn you a no-return customer. All for a click, today.
