Click Bait
We need to have a chat about this.
Big sites like Upworthy, Huffington Post, and now sadly, CollegeHumor and Dorkly are falling victim to this sleazy way to bring in page views.
They are dead set on the fact that no one wants to read their articles so they “spice them up” by using “YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT” or “THESE KIDS DID SOMETHING CRAZY”
Examples:
They employ ALL CAPS YELLING TEXT and provocative phrases to get viewers to tap or click. But what they don’t realize is that these methods are downright insulting and misleading most of the time.
No one wants to be treated like a child.
The thought that the only way to get people to read your articles is by yelling at them and baiting them should indicate that your articles suck and maybe you need better writers. Not to patronize your readers like they are monkeys who will only be lured out by the promise of a banana on a string.
When you walk into a coffee shop do you want someone to meet you at the door yelling “THESE PEOPLE WERE ASKED WHAT THEY THOUGHT ABOUT THE DOUBLE SHOT MOCHA AND YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT THEY SAID” and hands you a flyer with a poorly written article about the quality of the double shot mocha including a few customer reviews that look clearly faked.
[“It’s good stuff” – One satisfied customer]
However,
Not all article factories are using this method to bring in clicks and taps:
This is an article by the BBC and was a spectacular article about how the eyes function and what illusions are and why they are interesting to us.
This is just one article. There are a slew of them. No caps, No provocative lines, No female chests. Just good research, good writing, and good presentation.
-Lex
[DISCLAIMER]
Now, don’t get me wrong, some articles are written this way on purpose to help raise awareness for certain big issues and i’m not here to say i am heartless. I am specifically referring to the cases that are not about these types of issues, i’m shooting down the idea that we are all too stupid and need big and flashy things to keep us interested.