Clickbait Doesn't Work

You've probably seen them before. Links on a web page...

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Proposing an alternate title....
10 Reasons Clickbait doesn't work... Reason 6 will SHOCK you!

5 comments about your article, number five will BLOW YOUR MIND!

I agree completely. A headline as a catchy way of informing the reader of the articles content is one thing, but being deliberately misleading, inflammatory, or confrontational is another beast entirely.

Yet here we are. In the era of instant news and the rush to break the story, even if it is just a single line "Explosion reported, thousands COULD be dead!?" this kind of thing is inevitable. No one buys the whole paper anymore, they just pick what catches their eye and a flashy headline is just that.

I suppose the fault starts with the editor, since they choose or approve the headline. Gone are the days of copysetters trying to fit in words on a fixed sheet of newsprint (although you guys seem to have a pretty consistent font size on the top row so maybe their are some limits on what a headline can be). Anyhoo, the editor should set the tone for the publication, haven't seen evidence that they exist in years, replaced by autocorrect I suppose.

Youtube is even worse, since now you have an video to pair with the headline, and are heavily incentivized to hit specific time hacks and engagement levels before you get relegated to the deep dark depths of "last weeks news".

This is why a close community has value. Even if I disagree with folks on some issues, there is a level of consistency here that lets me weigh reviews and play experiences against my own preferences to a pretty high degree of accuracy.

It's when a reviewer is clearly just spouting ad copy back at us that the integrity and trust are lost, and are hard to regain.

Don't shoot the writers - at the major outlets, from my experience the editor is the one crafting the headline 90% of the time.

Yeah, I've had some titles get mutilated for clickbait purposes on pieces I've done for other sites. Not a fan. That said, a lot of folks do choose to go that route.

Because it works...

Thank you for all the replies. I love the extra-clickbaity suggestions.